A Weeping Secret
by ClemmyClue102
Summary: She'd only been trying to help. She never wanted to make Kenny mad. She never wanted to make him hate her. She stood in front of the mirror, staring at her reflection, pill bottle in her little hand. In the silence of the room, she remembered what had brought her to this point of no return. Darker fic. Rated T may turn M for cutting.
1. Chapter 1

_**She'd only been trying to help. She never wanted to make Kenny mad. She never wanted to make him hate her. She stood in front of the mirror, staring at her reflection, pill bottle in her little hand. In the silence of the room, she remembered what had brought her to this point of no return.**_

 ** _I'm back...To put it simply, I've been busy...but, yah, I'm back. And here's a new fic._**

 ** _Requested by a guest, who wanted me to write a fic where_** ** _Kenny yells at Clem and unintentionally causes her to harm herself and he is the only one that can help her._**

 ** _Was originally gonna be a one-shot, but I got into writing it and decided to make it longer! And I didn't kill Luke, so yay for that._**

 ** _Sooo...please,_**

 _ **ENJOY.**_

 _ **Warning: Will contain self-harm, suicide attempts, and thoughts, and swearing. Proceed with caution.**_

* * *

"Is there any other way to get there? Do we have to cross the lake?" Clementine questioned. She had a bad feeling about walking on the ice.

The firefight from earlier had left their attackers dead, including Arvo, who had received a mercy killing from Mike after his being bitten by his sister. The group didn't get away without injury though. Rebecca was dead, and both Mike, and Luke had been shot. And taking a bullet to the leg had proved to be a real struggle for Luke, who was limping along and trying his best not to slow the group down.

Now the group stood in front of an icy lake that would ultimately lead them to an unfinished house, that they hoped had some supplies.

"We should've stuck to the treeline." Jane sighed.

"The fastest way between two...things is a straight line." Kenny said, looking down to Clem.

"It's not far. Just be on the lookout." Bonnie said. "Maybe there's a way around."

"I don't see any." Luke spoke.

"If we just go real slow, it'll probably be okay." Clementine said.

"Yeah. No need to rush this." Bonnie agreed.

"We need to spread out. Just to be safe. Less weight the better." Jane spoke.

With that, the group cautiously begin to make their way to the house, keeping a slow, but steady pace.

Clementine couldn't shake the bad feeling in her gut. Her stomach was in knots, she couldn't help, but feel something bad was going to happen. As she trudged forward, she heard the ice beneath her feet start to crack.

"We're okay. Don't worry." Luke assured the child.

Clementine swallowed, but slowly continued walking.

"We got some walkers behind us." Jane informed the group, looking over her shoulder. "It's only a few of 'em. We should be all right." Mike spoke.

"Let's just get to the house." Bonnie said.

The group continued to slowly inch forward until the startling sound of ice cracking grabbed their attention.

"Fuck." Mike cried.

"That's two less to deal with." Jane said.

"Just stay spread out and we'll be fine." Bonnie tried to reassure.

"You're okay." Luke said as he noticed Clementine looking down to the ice beneath her. "You're fine."

Clementine didn't reply. She sent a glance over her shoulder to see the walkers.

"L-Luke..."

"It's fine. Just keep going."

"They're...They're g-going to get me!"

"No. No they're not." Luke hushed before trying again to get the girl moving. "You're fine, Clem."

The words did nothing to ease her fear, Luke wasn't sure she was even listening as the girl stayed as frozen as the ice they were walking on.

"H-Help me!" Clementine pleaded, frantically, eyes filling with her tears.

"Calm down!" Luke called. "Just calm down, Clem." He moved a little faster trying to catch up to the girl, he knew he couldn't get to close or the ice would break, but he needed the child to listen to him.

" I c-can't..." Clementine shook her head, she tried to take a step, but the ice only cracked more. "K-Kenny!"

"You're good, darlin'." Kenny tried to stay calm, not wanting to make the child panic. "You're okay." He didn't know what to do.

"Clem, try to take a step." Bonnie piped in, seeing the child's fear.

Clementine looked over to the woman, shaking her head once more. "I can't. I can't!"

"Yes, you can, sweetie." The red head encouraged.

"The ice is going to break." Clementine protested.

"No. Clem, you're light. It ain't gonna break." Bonnie said, hoping her words would sooth the girl's fear.

Clementine however, wasn't buying that. "Yes, it will."

"Clementine!" Jane called, grabbing the girl's attention. "Don't be stupid! You're gonna get yourself killed." Jane snapped.

"Clementine, just...just close your eyes and take a step." Kenny ordered.

Clementine hesitated for a moment before doing as the told. She closed her eyes and finally managed to take a step.

"Shit!" Luke swore, preparing to run over as he noticed a walker moving close to the girl, probably interested in all the noise the girl was making. How did none of them notice it getting so close. He completely forgot he had a gun as he, ignoring the pain in his leg, started to sprint over to the child. "Clem!"

Bonnie had also noticed the walker creeping up behind the little girl, she quickly pulled out her gun, shooting the walker.

Clementine let out a small sound of fear, opening her eyes, heart pounding as she heard the ice crack behind her and the walker fell through. She hadn't even noticed it sneaking up behind her.

Luke sighed in relief before looking down. His eyes widened as he realized that in his rush to save Clem he had caused the ice beneath his own feet to crack.

"Luke?"

"Don't come over here." Luke quickly said, noticing the Bonnie and Clementine's attention was now on him. "Okay, I can make it. It's fine."

"You sure?" Bonnie asked.

"Yeah." Luke replied, unsure. He gave a nervous glance over his shoulder.

"You got walkers on the way, let me help you." Bonnie pleaded.

"It's too thin for both of us, I just... I just gotta be careful." Before he could even finish his sentence, the ice broke under him, causing him to fall.

"Luke, no!" Bonnie cried. Both her and Clem quickly made a dash towards Luke.

"Stop. Stop!" He ordered, causing the to pause. "I'm fine. I'm fine."

"No, you're not." Bonnie argued.

"I just gotta pull myself out." Luke mumbled, voice shivering along with his body.

"You need help, Luke!" Clementine spoke desperately.

"The ice is too thin. I got it." Luke protested.

Bonnie quickly turned her attention to the little girl, "You need to help!"

"No! You're gonna fall through!" Luke called.

"Clem, go. Go help him!" Bonnie ordered.

"No, Clem, do not." Luke said, shaking his head.

"Clem, just go back for him. You're light. You can do it." Bonnie said.

"Stop tellin' her that!" Luke snapped at Bonnie before turning to Clem. "Clem! Look at me." He said, waiting for the child to do so. "Pull out you're gun and shoot those damn walkers, okay. Just give me a little time."

"Clem, you can make it. But you need to go! Now!" Bonnie said, ignoring Luke.

"No, Clem! It's too dangerous. I just need some more time!" Luke said. Even in such a dire situation, he was more worried about the girl's safety than his own.

"He's gonna die, Clem!" Bonnie shot at the girl.

Clementine felt her heart clench as she heard those words.

"You guys gotta hurry!" Mike yelled, noticing walkers approaching.

Clementine quick readied herself. She had to help Luke. She couldn't just let him die.

I can figure it out." Luke mumbled, seeing a look of determination flash in the little girl's eyes.

Clementine, however, had already made up her mind. She started towards her friend, determined to save his life.

"Clementine, stop!" Kenny yelled.

"Clementine!" Mike called.

Luke's eyes went widen as the child approached him. He quickly shook his head as she got closer and closer. "Just go back. Please..."

"I got you." Clementine comforted.

"Please..." Luke stammered.

"It's gonna be alright." Clementine said, reaching out a hand to Luke.

Before she could react the ice broke, dragging both her and Luke into the lake below.

"Shit...Oh shit!" Jane tried to locate one of them in the water. After five minutes she was coming up empty handed.

Mike quickly raced over to help, handing AJ to Kenny. "You see 'em."

"No...Fuck... Help me look."

"Yeah. Alright."

The two of the reached through the water. Moments passing before Jane yelled. "Mike! Mike, help me!"

When she grabbed Luke, she tried to pull him up. She wanted to get Clementine first, but Luke was closer and she knew he was alive.

"Mike, help." She repeated. "Help me pull him up."

Mike quickly did so, helping Jane pull Luke from the icy water.

"We got Luke!" Mike called to the others.

"N-No, no! G-G-Ge-Get her!" Luke screamed as they helped him out of the freezing water.

You okay?" Mike asked.

"D-Don't w-wo-worry about m-me." Luke uttered through his shivers. "Get Clementine!"

Jane quickly started searching through the water for Clementine. She couldn't see anything. The water was too dark, and she didn't want to jump in there. She knew she'd probably freeze to death if she did.

Kenny held AJ in his arms, waiting nervously. When he saw them pull Luke free. He waited to see if he held Clementine with him. But he didn't see the girl.

"Where's Clem?!" He demanded, placing the baby into Bonnie's arms, Kenny quickly raced across the ice, not worrying if it cracked or not.

"She's still under." Mike replied.

"What?" Kenny asked, panicking. He quickly started digging through the water, along with Jane, trying to see if he could feel for the girl. "Get me...Get me a stick."

He was ready to jump down there and look himself, but he knew he'd probably die right along with Clem.

"That's not going to work." Jane said.

Kenny ignored her, looking around for a stick. "Get me a stick, Mike."

Mike quickly looked for one that would be long enough. He looked around running off the ice to grab a stick before tossing it to the man.

"We don't have enough time." Bonnie spoke.

"Yes we do." Luke said, watching in despair as they looked for Clementine.

"But how much time does she have?" Jane added.

"Shut the fuck up!" Kenny spat.

"Kenny-" Jane sighed sitting up, her hands were aching due to the cool.

Kenny ignored them and once again begin a desperate search for the child. Concentrating on the lake and trying to feel for the girl.

"It's been almost ten minutes. Luke's freezing we gotta-" Jane said.

"No. I-I'm f-fine." Luke said. "Get Clem."

"How was she when you had her?" Mike asked.

"S-She wasn't..." Luke trailed off, shaking his head. "I...I...I don't k-know. H-Her eyes were c-closed. She w-wasn't m-moving."

"Was she... dead?" Bonnie asked.

"I d-do-don't know." Luke said.

"If she wasn't then. She might be now." Jane said, standing up. "She's been under for too long."

"I got her! I got her!" Kenny cried as his stick caught something in the water. He pulled it towards him.

"What?" Jane asked, surprised.

"I got her!" He repeated as he recovered the child from the water.

She was soaking wet. And completely limp. For a moment, Kenny thought he was picking up a corpse. He quickly shook that thought away, running off the ice with her in his arms.

"It's alright darlin'." He said, pulling her soaked form to his chest. "You're alright."

He was waited for her to show a sign of life, but she never did.


	2. Chapter 2

The little girl's face was white-blue color, eyes rolled back into her head.

Alvie was wailing, it was as if he could tell something was wrong.

Kenny quickly laid the child on the ground once he was off the ice and tried to get a pulse; nothing.

The girl wasn't breathing and she didn't have a pulse. He knew she was dead.

"Clem?" He gave her a shake, but she didn't respond. "Clementine...Wake up, darlin'. You're alright now. Wake up."

As the others made their way over, they looked at Clem's unmoving little body. She didn't react to anything, no one was home, and they knew it.

"Move." Jane ordered, pushing Kenny aside as she dropped down and started CPR.

Everytime she did a compression, water would come out of the girl's mouth, but each time she tried to breathe for her Clementine little cheeks would puff up, then it would go straight back down, much like when you blew up a balloon only to release air.

"Breathe. Come on, breathe." Jane spoke, keeping up with her compression.

"C'mon, kid. Breathe, Clem!" Luke added.

"BREATHE!" Kenny begged as well.

Bonnie stayed silent, clutching the baby to her, feeling guilty as she watch them try to breath life into the little girl.

After a few minutes Clementine took a gasp.

"She's breathing! She's breathing!" Jane said.

The little girl with breathing shallowly, letting out small gasp for air, but she remained a lifeless doll.

Kenny pulled her up into his arms. She was alive that's all he needed to know.

"To the house. We gotta get her warm." Jane ordered.

With a nod, Kenny dashed towards the house. The others following after him.

"There's a fireplace." Jane pointed out as the made it into the house.

"Jesus Christ." Mike muttered.

"We have to get her warm she's gonna freeze to death." Jane spoke before rushing from the room to look for blankets or anything useful.

"We should've gone around." Mike ranted. "We should've just gone around."

"Shut up." Kenny growled, keeping Clementine in his arms, trying to provide body heat, he had nothing else to offer.

"Found these." Jane spoke as she returned to the room, holding up a bag. "I'll get a fire started. Mike, give me a hand."

"Yeah. Okay."

Once they had managed to get the fireplace lit, Luke moved closer to get warm. Kenny did the same, keeping the unconscious child as close to him as possible, hoping to help warm her up.

* * *

"She okay?" Mike asked.

"She..." Kenny paused, taking a glance at the child's face. "She's good. Yeah. H-How's AJ?"

"He's fine." Mike replied before shaking his head. "I can't believe this shit..."

Kenny didn't reply.

"She's such a good kid...She better be okay." Luke pitched in, he was feeling much better, now he was only worried about Clementine.

"I'm sure she'll be fine." Bonnie spoke.

"This never would've happened if you hadn't told her to go back." Kenny snapped.

"If she hadn't gone back Luke would've died." Bonnie replied, narrowing her eyes.

"She nearly died!" Kenny pointed out.

"But she didn't." Bonnie argued, guilty avoiding looking at the child. "She's fine."

"Look at her!" Kenny demanded.

She didn't. "I have!"

"She's half dead-"

"Hey!" Luke cut him off, having heard enough. "She's okay. Everybody's okay."

"Luke's right. Let's just calm down." Jane added.

"Clementine wasn't fucking breathing earlier!" Kenny growled.

"But she's fine now." Jane replied.

"Do you really think so?" Kenny asked.

"Guys, stop fighting." Luke pleaded.

"Yeah. We should be happy that no one got nabbed on the way in here." Mike said.

Kenny felt his heart clench at hearing those word, so eerily similar to the ones spoken the moments before he discover Duck's bite. Feeling apprehensive, he moved the unconscious child's head off his shoulder, and checked her for bites. Finding none, he let out a relieved sigh, readjusting the girl in his grasp.

Mike noticed him moving the girl and raised a brow. "Want me to take her for a bit?"

Kenny shook his head. "I got her."

"You sure?" Mike asked.

"I said, I got her." Kenny snapped.

"Alright. Was just offering." Mike said.

Kenny didn't respond. He just held Clem, hoping she wake up soon.

The room was silent after that.


	3. Chapter 3

"Did we do the right thing?"

The last thing Luke was expecting was to hear those words fall from Jane's mouth. She had seemed to be close to Clem, so what could she possibly mean by that?

"What do you mean?" Luke questioned, he needed to know if she was saying what he thought she was saying.

"Just..." Jane trailed off for a moment, almost debating if she should speak her mind.

"Jane?" Luke called, lifting a brow in his confused state.

"Saving her..." Jane finally said. She had a pained look on her face, as if the words had hurt her to say.

"What?" Luke's eyes widened in disbelief.

"I'm just wondering." Jane replied, quickly shaking her head, hoping he would drop it.

"Of course we did! We had to." Luke said.

"I just thinking...She was under there for almost fifteen minutes..." Jane muttered.

"And?" Luke asked, annoyance clear in his voice. "She's fine."

"She hasn't woken up yet." Jane pointed out.

"She will." Luke responded. The girl was "tough as nails". She had to wake up. At least Luke hoped she would.

"...Have you thought of damage to brain?" Jane asked.

"Damage?" Luke questioned dumbly.

"She was under the water so long, and who knows how long it took to get her to breathe. Brain damage is a big possibility."

Luke bit his lip, the thought hadn't occurred to him. "Regardless...At least she'll have a chance."

"In this world?" Jane questioned back, narrowing her eyes.

"You don't think so?" Luke asked.

"To be honest... No." Jane said.

"We'll take care of her." Luke said, fully confident.

"You can't always protect everyone." Jane shot. She was getting tired of everyone trying to play hero. Why didn't they understand that didn't work.

"She'll be fine." Luke said. He didn't care what Jane said, he would protect Clementine no matter what.

The two were silent for a while before Jane let out a sigh, "Maybe we should've just let her go."

"No." Luke sent her a glare, shaking his head. "Stop saying stuff like that."

"If there's damage to the brain, there's no way she'll make it in this world. Maybe she'd want it this way..." Jane shrugged, looking thoughtfully towards little Clementine.

"No...That's a terrible way to die. Especially for a kid like Clementine." The man responded.

"Look at her." Jane said, motioning towards the unresponsive figure of Clementine. "She's practically dead already!"

"She's breathing. She wasn't before." Luke pointed out.

"But she's not reacting to anything." Jane shook her head and continued, "Who knows if she'll even wake up, and even if she does...If there's damage to the brain, what are you going to do?"

"I'll take care of her." Was the confident response.

"Things aren't as simple as you make them out to be." Jane sighed, turning away.

"So you think we should've let her die?" Luke demanded.

"I'm not saying that..." Jane muttered. She didn't even completely know herself what she was saying.

"Then what are you are saying?" Luke was pissed that Jane was speaking the way she was. He remember her doing the same with Sarah. It was fucked up.

"She may have been better off." Jane said.

"Being dead?" Luke fought to keep his voice down, not wanting to wake the others, it was too early for that and everyone was exhausted.

"No...I-" Jane didn't know how to responded and stopped herself.

Luke however, didn't care as he snapped, "What the hell is wrong with you? Why are saying this?"

"Never-mind...Just...Forget I said anything." Jane said, turning away from the man.

Luke narrowed his eyes, how could he forget a conversation like that. "Jane-"

"What's all the noise about?"

Luke waited a moment to see if Jane would respond to the bearded man's question. She didn't.

"...It's nothing." He responded, adjusting Clementine in his arms. "Find anything?"

"Yeah. This place ain't worth staying. We'll freeze to death." Kenny said.

"What do you suggest?" Jane finally spoke up, from her spot on the ground.

"There's a truck outside. I'm gonna see if I can get it to run."

"Sounds good." Luke nodded his approval.

"How's AJ?" Kenny asked.

"Still asleep." Luke replied, looking over to the box the infant was in.

"What about her?" Kenny questioned, looking to the unconscious child Luke was holding.

"Not much of a change. She's not freezing anymore though." Luke responded, shifting closer to the fire to keep both him and Clementine warm.

"Yeah. That's good." Kenny sighed. "I'm gonna go get to work on this truck."

"Okay..."

Kenny sparred another glance at Clem.

"We'll keep an eye on her."

Luke looked over to Jane. He wanted to laugh, no way he'd let her 'keep an eye on Clem' after what she just said.

"AJ too." Luke added, notice want to alarm Kenny. He wouldn't tell him what had been said, the man would probably freak if he heard Jane.

"Thanks." Kenny seemed satisfied with their assurance as he offered a tired, yet appreciative smile before he left without another word. Jane laid back down, and Luke let out a sigh.

"Hey, kid. Wake up soon, alright." He whispered in the little girl's ear.

Clementine didn't react to his voice, not even a twitch.

Jane locked eyes over to him, he quickly looked away. Not wanting to hear anything she had to say.

He just wanted Clementine to be alright.

* * *

"God dammit!" Kenny groaned.

He NEEDED to get the damn truck working. Clem and AJ needed to be safe and he was sure Wellington was their best bet. He just had to get the truck going and they could be on their way. He wasn't going to let those kids down. They were all he had. He was not going to lose someone close to him. Not again.


	4. Chapter 4

It was quiet. The silence bother Luke. As he glanced at Jane he couldn't help, but feel tension in the air. He felt as if she wanted to say something, but was biting her tongue. When she looked towards him if only confirmed his suspicions.

"What?" He sighed out, motioning for her to speak, although he wasn't sure he wanted to hear what she had to say.

"It's...nothing..." Jane responded.

Luke knew it wasn't "nothing", but he decided to leave it at that. The two sat in silence a while longer before Jane let out a sigh.

"We could go." Jane mumbled, staring out the window of the truck.

"What?" Luke raised a brow, urging her to explain.

"We could leave, right now." Jane said.

"Are you serious? What about the others?" Luke asked in disbelief.

"There's no way Kenny would let AJ go." Jane replied, simply.

"And what about Clem?" He questioned, looking to the little girl, who had remained unconscious. "You think he'd just let us take off with her?"

"Probably not..." Jane spoke. She had a strange look on her face.

Luke raised a brow. "What?"

"I just..." She paused, taking a short glance at Clem. "I don't think she's gonna wake up."

"Why not?" Luke demanded.

"It's been two days." Jane said.

"So. She's still breathing, ain't she. And she's doing better than she was." Luke pointed out. He hated how Jane was so easy to give up on people. Clementine was going to be just fine.

"Alright. And if she does... lets say there's damage to the brain." Jane said, trying to get Luke to see her side of things.

Luke sighed in annoyance, "Jane."

"No...I've really been thinking about this. Where would she be safe?" Jane asked. "It's not with Kenny. Who knows what it will take for him to flip out on her..."

"Jane-" Luke cut himself off. Jane was right about that. Kenny was a time-bomb. He would probably go off on Clem for something and if there was a possibility of damage to the brain, the girl wouldn't even understand why.

"We could bring her with us...But, look at her. She's in a coma. And we can't just carry her around. If we got attacked..." She trailed off, shaking her head.

Luke narrowed his eyes, looking back towards Clem. "You're acting like she's a burden."

"Because...Because she is." Jane said, with a shake of her head. "She's lifeless. We're hauling her around and for what?"

"You're giving up on her already? You have no hope for the kid?" Luke fought to keep his voice down. He couldn't believe the words that he was hearing.

"Hope isn't going to keep her alive. For all we know she could be brain dead." Jane said.

"Stop saying that!" Luke spat. "She's gonna be just fine. Little girl is tough as nails." Luke spoke stubbornly. He wouldn't would hear a word more of what Jane was saying.

"L-Luke...?" A voice met his ears.

"What now?" He grumbled.

"Can you stop being so loud?"

"Yes. Yes I- -Clem? Oh my God." Luke cried, surprised to see the girl was awake. "Are you awake, kid?"

"W-What happened?" Clementine asked in a weak voice.

"You fell into the water when we were trying to cross the ice." Jane said.

"Where are we?" The girl questioned, forcing her aching body up and looking around.

"Kenny found this truck at that house and fixed it up. We've been on the road since." Luke filled her in.

"Really?" Clementine asked, eyes wide. "How long have I been out?"

"Bout two days." Luke replied.

Clem's eyes widened. "Two days?"

"Yep..." Luke gave a nod.

"Hmm..." Clementine mumbled thoughtfully. "What were you guys talking about?" She asked.

"It don't matter, kiddo." Luke said, brushing her off as he didn't want her to know about the hurtful thing Jane was saying. "How are you feeling?"

"I don't know..." Clementine shrugged. "I'm tired.

"You just woke up." Luke chuckled.

"Yeah...My body aches too." The girl admit.

"I bet it does." Luke said. "Other than that?"

Clementine gave a shrug. "I'm good. I think."

"You think?" Jane asked with a small smirk.

"Yeah." Clementine returned her smile. "Where are the others?"

"Looking for supplies. I stayed behind cause of my leg and offered to keep an eye on you and AJ." Luke said.

"Can I hold him?" Clementine begged.

"AJ?" Luke raised a brow.

"Yeah." Clementine nodded.

"If you want." He said, passing the infant to the girl carefully.

"Hey..." Clementine

Luke grinned at the little girl. "He's cute isn't he?"

Clementine nodded, rubbing her eyes "Luke,"

"Yes?" Luke smiled at the girl.

Clementine suddenly lowered her gaze, feeling a feeling of guilt run over her. "I'm sorry."

"What for?" Luke asked.

"You fell in the water cause of me." The girl muttered.

"Hey, that not true, Clem." Luke argued.

"It is." Clementine said.

Luke shook his head. "No it's not, Clem. Nothing was your fault."

"It was. You could have died cause of me." Clementine said, sadness and guilt in her voice.

"No, it wasn't. Besides, I'm fine aren't I?"

"Yes..." Clementine nodded.

"And so are you." Luke said, sounding relieved.

"How's your leg?" Clementine asked worriedly.

"Doing better." Luke told her.

"What about Kenny? How's his eye?"

Luke was unsure how to answer that question. Kenny hadn't let anybody check on his injury, so he had no idea.

"I'm not sure." Luke admit.

"What do you mean?" Clementine narrowed her eyes in confusion.

"He hasn't let anybody see it. He's been focusing on you." Luke explained.

"Oh..." That made her feel bad. If Kenny's eye got infected...It would be her fault. It was already because of her that he lost it.

"Hey." Luke called, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"What?" Clementine met his eyes.

"It's not your fault." Luke said, seemly reading her mind.

Clementine let out a sigh. She hoped his eye was okay. If Kenny refused to allow anyone to change his bandages, when he got back she just have to do it herself.


	5. Chapter 5

Clementine raised her head, up as she heard muffled voices, people approaching the car. Kenny, Mike, and Bonnie were walking towards the car. Clementine couldn't understand what they were saying. She just hoped they weren't arguing.

"Find anything?" Jane asked, immediately Kenny opened the driver's door.

"Yeah, actually. They had a few cans left over." Kenny answered.

"Look who's awake." Bonnie said, eyes going wide as she saw Clementine. "Hey there City mouse."

"Hey."  
Kenny sent the girl a smile. "How're you doing, Clem?"

"I'm okay."

"Thank God." Mike sighed, "We were starting to think you'd never wake up."

Clementine let a small smile cross her lips, but didn't respond.

"How are ya feelin', darlin'?" Kenny asked once more. He was so happy to see the girl was okay. He couldn't help, but ask again.

"I'm fine...Just a little achy." She replied.

"I'd figure." Kenny said. "It's good to see you awake, hon."

"Thanks." She smiled, before hesitatingly asking. "...How about you?"

"What about me?" Kenny raised a confused brow and asked.

"Umm...How are you feeling?" Clementine questioned.

"I'm fine." Kenny said with a shrug.

"Are you sure?" Clementine asked, concerned. "What about your eye?"

"Don't you worry about that?" Kenny said, sitting in the driver's seat.

"Kenny-"

"We gotta get going." Kenny cut the little girl off.

"I think I-"

"You don't need to worry about me Clem." Kenny said, sounding slightly irritated.

"Why not?" Clementine asked. "Of course I worry about you."

"You're a kid. Be one." Kenny said simply.

Clementine was taken aback by his words, but she wasn't going to let him shut her down like that. "Kenny..." She said firmly. "Let me change your bandage. Please The little girl was sure she sounded desperate, and she had to admit, she was. She didn't want his eye getting any worse than it was.

"No." Kenny refused, shaking his head. Sitting in the driver's seat, he turned his eyes forward, not looking at the child. "We need to get to Wellington."

"Okay. We can do that Kenny." Clementine nodded. "But Can I...Please, just let me look at it."

Kenny only shook his head once more.

"Please? I don't want your eye to get infected." The child was practically pleading at this point.

"I said no Clem!" He said, firmer this time, annoyed that the child was being so persistent.

"But-"

"NO!" He yelled making the child flinch. "I said, it's fine."

Clementine bit down on her lip, feeling slightly hurt. She only wanted to help out.

Luke gave her a comforting pat on the shoulder. Clementine offered him a tiny smile.

She decided to keep silent the rest of the ride.

* * *

Kenny let out a heavy sigh, grumbling under his breath. "We gotta stop."

"Why?" Mike asked.

"We're running low of fumes..." Kenny said, with a huff. "Have to get some more."

"Not now. It's too dark." Bonnie protested.

"Bonnie's right. We should try to find somewhere to go." Jane said.

"Where?" Luke asked.

"I don't know. Some place we can rest." Jane shrugged.

"Yeah." Kenny agreed. "I'll try to find some gas first thing in the morning."

"Can I come?" Clementine spoke up.

"I don't know if that's a good idea hon." Kenny replied. He didn't want to bring her. She'd only just woke up today and she was still not in tiptop condition.

"Pretty please?" Clementine asked, giving him puppy dog eyes.

"I'll think about it Clem." Kenny said.

Clementine nodded. "Okay..."

The car was silent after that as Kenny continued to slowly drive.

* * *

Not too long later they managed to find some where to stop.

"Here," Kenny called, motioning towards AJ, who was being held in Clementine's arms. "Give him here. Don't want ya to drop him."

"I won't drop him." Clementine argued, but handed the infant over regardless.

"Just wanna be safe. I bet your arms a tired from holding him so long." Kenny said.

"Not really..." She disagreed, although her arms did feel a little numb.

"Course they're not." Mike snickered causing the child to shoot him a glare.

Before long the group had build a small fire, which they now found themselves gathered around. Clementine wrapped her arms around herself. She was still cold, as the small fire didn't provided too much heat. She rubbed a hand over her tired eyes, trying not to doze off. She wanted to offer to keep watch, although she was sure they would let her do so.

Suddenly, she felt her stomach growl, pulling her out of her thoughts.

Clementine felt heat rush to her cheeks as she looked up to see the adults looking at her with faint smiles.

"You hungry, Clem?" Mike asked, his tone teasing.

Clementine only shrugged, not caring for his teasing voice.

"Let me see what we got." Bonnie said grinning at the little girl. She pulled out a can with a smile and held it towards the child. "Here ya go, city mouse."

Clementine read the label, before her nose wrinkled up in disgust. "I don't want it." The youngster spoke, refusing the can. She had just woken up and that was supposed to be her first meal? No way.

"Clementine," Bonnie sighed, "I know it's not the most delectable-"

"I don't like mushrooms." The girl cut Bonnie off, face wearing a pout.

"Really? Didn't you ever have them on pizza?" Mike asked.  
"Eww...No." Clementine denied, shaking her head. "They're gross."

"Well this is different. It's a soup. Not just normal mushrooms." Bonnie pointed out.

"I'm not going to eat that stuff." Clem refused.

"Look darlin', we risked out lives to get that food, so either you eat it, or you don't eat nothing." Kenny said in a tone that could only be described as annoyed.

"I'm not going to eat that." Clementine crossed her arms childishly. "I hate mushrooms. They're disgusting."

"C'mon, Clem. Just eat a little." Luke urged.

"No."

"You haven't even tried it." Mike added. "You might like it."

"I don't want it." Clementine repeated firmly.

"I bet it taste pretty good city mouse." Bonnie said, offering to open up the can.

"No. No. No." Clementine shook her head again. What part of she didn't want it did they not understand.

"Clem..." Kenny called again.

Clementine looked towards him. He seemed so tired. She quieted down.

"Guys..." Jane sighed. "If she doesn't want to eat it, you can't force her to."

"She was out for days. She needs to eat something." Luke protested. Bonnie seemed to agree.

"Clementine, are you going to eat the soup?" Kenny grumbled.

"No."

"Fine. Don't eat anything. We don't have time for you to be picky." The bearded man shrugged.

"I'll save you some. If you change your mind lemme know." Bonnie said.

"Why bother. If she wants to be an ungrateful brat, let her." Kenny said maybe a bit too harshly.

Clementine found herself feeling hurt by his words. Luke send her a look, mouthing, "he didn't mean it."

* * *

After the group had finished their meal Kenny offered to take watch while the others tried to get some rest.

Once the man had left Luke called for Clementine, motioning the child over.

Clementine made her way over to him expecting a scolding or something.

"Hey," he said softly. "Kenny didn't mean it. You know that right?"

"Then why'd he say it?" Clementine asked. She couldn't understand.

"He's had a lot of stress, you know..." Luke attempted to justify some of Kenny's actions."And we've all been waiting for you to wake up. He was worried."

"I don't want to stress him out." Clementine said, feelings a little guilty.

"He cares about you Clem. We all do." Luke said. "He didn't mean to say that to you. He probably just had a bad day."

"Yeah...You're right." Clementine agreed with a nod.

"Course I am." Luke joked, giving her a nudge.

"I'm sorry for being a brat." Clem apologized.

"You're not a brat." Luke replied, knowing the girl was far from being a brat. "I get it Clem. Mushroom soup doesn't sound like my first choice either."

"Definitely not." Clementine said, arms crossed over her chest.

"But you gotta remember, we don't have much kid. And you have to eat. So let's try not to be so picky." Luke said.

"...Okay." Clementine said.

"Good." Luke sent her a smile. "Let's hit the hay Clem."

"But I'm not tired." Clementine argued.

"But I bet you are." Luke stopped her protest and continued, "Besides you need your rest if you're gonna help Kenny hunt for gas tomorrow."

Clementine let out a sigh, but gave a nod as she realized what he said was true. "Okay...Night Luke."

"Sleep tight kiddo."


	6. Chapter 6

"Kenny?" Clementine called nearly startling the man.

Kenny looked up from Alvie's little face to see Clementine standing in front of her. "Clem?" He offered the girl a weak smile. "I didn't know you were awake."

"Yeah..." Clementine mumbled. "I am."

"What are you doing up so early?" Kenny questioned.

"I uh...I was wondering something?" Clementine shifted nervously from foot to foot.

"What is it?" Kenny asked.

"Why are you being so...mad at me?" The girl wasn't sure if she had worded it properly, but she really wanted to know what she had done to upset the man.

"What?" Kenny asked shocked.

"If...If I did something bad, I'm sorry. I just don't want you to be angry anymore." The child said, head lowered.

"Oh, darlin'," Kenny started suddenly feeling guilty, " I'm not angry at you."

"You're not?" Clementine asked in disbelief.

"No. Look, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings Clem." Kenny said. "I really didn't."

"Really?" Clementine asked.

"Yes." Kenny said. "I'm so sorry, Clem."

"It's okay..." The child said.

"Good." Kenny sighed in relief, a smile crossing his lips, "Glad you forgive me."

"Uh-huh..." Clem nodded.

Kenny's smile quickly flattered as he noticed the little girl's glum look. "What's the matter?"

"I...I just...Can I...Can I please change your bandage?" The girl pleaded. "I don't want your eye to get worse."

"Will that make you stop being so sad?" Kenny asked. The girl had been so pushy about that. He wished she would stop worrying about him so much.

Clementine looked down at the ground as if she were contemplating, before looking up and giving a nod.

"Fine." Kenny agreed.

"Okay!" The child brightened, satisfied that he would allow her to help. "I'll get the stuff." She quickly dashed off, heading towards the bags of supplies. She started digging through, searching for everything that was needed.

"Clem?" Bonnie voiced sleepily. "What are you doing City Mouse?"

"Looking..." Clementine trailed off.

"What are you looking for?" Bonnie asked.

"Stuff to clean Kenny's eye." Clementine explained.

"Oh...Hold on." Bonnie pushed herself up, before helping the child find the objects. "What time is it?"

"I don't know?" Clementine shrugged. The sun was just starting to rise. "It's pretty early."

Bonnie gave a nod. "Alright. Go on."

Clementine immediately made her way back to Kenny. "Alrighty. Take a seat. Oh...Right. You're already sitting."

"Uh-huh." Kenny said.

"Good. Good. Now... Let me-" The girl quickly reached out her little hand, taking hold of his bandage.

Kenny grabbed the child's hand, looking her in the eye. "Clem, calm down darlin'."

"I'm calm." The girl said.

Kenny shook his head at the child's statement. "Go ahead." Kenny urged the child on, releasing her hand. "Looking any better?"

"I...I think...Maybe?" She was so unsure, it still look so bad, but she was going to make sure he got better. "Okay. This is going to-"

"Hurt like hell...I know." Kenny said, cutting the child off.

"I was going to say sting a little." Clementine pouted.

"You were gonna lie to me?" Kenny said, pretending to be offending, but he was seriously amused at the child's attempt to keep the situation calm.

"Well...I'm trying to keep you as relaxed as possible." Clementine explained.

"Okay Doctor Clementine, do your work." He nodded towards her, letting her know she could continue.

"Mm-hm." Clementine poured the peroxide onto the rag. "So...This is going to suck...but only for a little while. I'll be super quick."

"Not quick enough." Kenny grumbled under his breath.

"Oh shush. Don't be a baby." Clementine said.

"I better get a sticker after this." Kenny joked.

"Ready?"

"Ready as I will be." Kenny said bracing himself as the child lifted the rag with was cover in stinging fluid.

Without another word, Clementine began clean Kenny's wound causing the man to hiss in pain. Regardless, she continued until she felt it was good enough. Once she was done, she redressed the wound and wrapped it. "All done."

"Thank you, hon..." Kenny said. Before pushing himself up. "Well I better get going, gotta see if I can find us some gas."

"By yourself?" She asked.

"I don't wanna wake anyone else. Plus it'd be faster if I go alone." If anyone else were to tag along, they'd probably just end up getting in a fight.

"Wait. Can't I go with you?" Clementine asked.

"Clem-"

"Pleeease?" She sent him her best puppy dog eyes. "I promise not to get on your nerves."

"You don't get on my nerves, Clem."

"We can look out for each other." She continued.

"Fine." Kenny sighed, "But you promise that you'll listen to me."

"I promise." She nodded eagerly.

"Bonnie, can you keep an eye on Alvie?" Kenny questioned as he approached the woman with the infant in his arms.

"Of course." Bonnie said taking the child into her own arms.

"I'm gonna go look for some gas, Clementine's tagging along with me."

"Okay. Ya'll be careful out there." Bonnie said.

"Sure thing." Kenny turned to the young girl. "Lets go Clem.

* * *

They'd been driving for a while, and Clementine had been starting to feel trapped, sitting in the crowded car. She needed something to do, so the moment Kenny talked about trying to find some gas, she jumped at the opportunity. It took some convincing, but he eventually agreed to bring her along. However, now she was finding herself struggling to keep up. She hadn't realized how far they had walked from the spot the group was at until the begin heading back.

"My feet hurt." She sighed.

"I thought ya wanted to come." Kenny said, looking quite amused.

"I did, I'm just tired." The girl complained.

"I know you are Clem. Everyone's tired." Kenny replied.

"I just wish we could have a stable place to rest."

"We will. Soon as we get to Wellington." Kenny smiled to the child, who nodded in agreement.

"Do you think it's far?" Clementine asked.

"Can't be too much farther." At least he hoped not.

"Well, I hope we find it soon."

"Me too."

"Maybe Christa will be there," The girl suddenly beamed.

"She might be." Kenny didn't want the girl to get her hopes up, just in-case in wasn't true.

After a few moments of walking in silence Clementine let out another sigh.

"Can't we take a break?" Clementine asked.

"No. Sorry darlin', but now that I got this truck moving I don't wanna lose it." He said.

"The truck's not going anywhere." Clementine groaned.

"At least without gas." Kenny added.

"We always have to get gas for that stupid truck. All the time." Clementine whined.

"It keeps you off your feet." Kenny pointed out.

"Until it runs out of gas." She said back.

Kenny chuckled, "Hush."

Clementine continued to trudge forward, reaching up a hand and rubbing her eye.

"You alright, darlin'?" Kenny asked, concerned.

Clementine nodded. "Yeah. I just want to go to sleep."

He placed a gentle pat on her head. "As soon as we get back to the others."

"Where will I sleep?" She asked.

"In the truck." Kenny shrugged. "Just stop complaining."

Clementine rolled her eyes, but kept silent.

* * *

"We got the gas." Kenny called.

"Great. Now we can get moving." Mike smiled, adjusting AJ in his arms.

"You okay, Clem?" Luke asked, kneeling in front of the girl.

"Yeah." She smiled.

"Alright. Wellington it is." Kenny said.

"Why the hell are you so set on Wellington?" Mike asked.

"Because its safe there Mike."

"And how do you know that?"

"I just do."

"Maybe we should vote on it." Bonnie suggested.

"No. We're going to Wellington. That's final." Kenny crossed his arms over his chest as he stated, "I got the truck fixed, so I say where we go."

"We shouldn't be out in the open like this. Can't we just find somewhere and-"

"You don't even listen to anybody!" Luke spat, cutting Clementine off.

Clementine nearly laughed. That was good, now they knew how she felt when they ignored her. Not that they cared, they just continued on fighting.

"You just want to do what you want."

"Stop fighting!" Clementine said.

Her voice went unheard as the group continued to bicker. She hated it. She hadn't been up more than a day, but she already wanted to just sleep again. With a huff she decided to go sit in the car until they were finished.

* * *

"Clem! Thank God." Kenny breathed in relief, "We've been looking all over for you."

"What are you talking about?" Clementine questioned cocking a brow. "I've been sitting here for like ten minutes."

"You...You can't just wander off like that." Bonnie said.

"I've been sitting right here. You guys were just too busy fighting to notice." Clementine retorted.

"Are you alright?" Luke asked.

Clementine nodded. "Yes."

"You sure?" Kenny asked.

"Yes, Kenny." Clementine grumbled, still upset about the arguing that had gone on. "I'm sure."

"Okay...Okay." Kenny mumbled. "Let's get moving."

The group didn't argue as they climbed into the car.


	7. Chapter 7

"Alvie sleep?" Kenny asked, nodding towards the child's direction.

"Yeah. He's sleeping." Mike said, looking down at the boy in his arms.

"Good. Clem, how ya doing darlin'?" He called, glancing to the backseat through the rear-view window.

The girl didn't respond. Bonnie spoke for her instead. "She's out like a light."

"Thank God." He smiled. "Let 'em sleep."

"We should try to get her a coloring book or something." Luke suggested.

"I think she'd like that." Kenny smiled. "Kid used to draw all the time."

They fell silent for a while before Jane spoke up. "Maybe we should stop soon." The woman said.

"And do what?" Mike asked.

"Find some place to sleep." Jane replied.

"We're never gonna make it to Wellington if we keep stopping every hour." Kenny grumbled.

"It's not a huge hurry, Kenny." Bonnie cut in. "We need some rest." She said, motioning towards Clementine who was curled up against the window. "Clementine-"

"Is fine." Kenny cut her off.

"Why don't we just find some place to turn in for the night?" Luke agreed.

"We could all use some sleep. Not just the kids." Jane said.

"We need food and shelter. All that is in Wellington." Kenny said.

"And if Wellington doesn't exist?" Jane asked.

"It does." The bearded man growled.

"If it doesn't." Jane pressed.

"We're not having this conversation again." Kenny attempted to brush her off. "The kids need some place safe."

"You keep saying that, but you don't even know if this place is real." Jane said. "If we just go back to Howe's-"

"Hell no! That's not even an option." Mike cried, put off by the thought of heading back to Howe's.

"Guys, just calm down." Luke said.

"You calm down!" Kenny snapped.

Luke narrowed his eyes. "Jane has a point, we don't know if this place is bullshit or-"

"It ain't!"

"And how do you know that Kenny?" Mike asked.

"Because he's always RIGHT." Luke groaned.

"Mm..." The gentle moan from Clementine caused the group to quiet a bit.

"Why don't we quiet down." Bonnie tried to calm the situation. "You're gonna wake the kids." She said, noticing Clementine stirring.

"We're going to Wellington." Kenny said.

"Kenny, you're delusional." Luke huffed.

"Nobody asked you, fruitcake." Kenny shot.

"Fruitcake is nasty..." Clementine muttered causing Luke to laugh.

"Hey there, Clem." Luke greeted kindly.

"Hey..." The girl spoke tiredly, voice barely above a whisper.

"Ya have a nice nap, darlin'?" Kenny asked.

"Uhh...You woke me up." She pointed out, rubbing sleep out of her eyes.

"Sorry 'bout that Clem." Luke apologized.

"Go back to sleep, hon. I won't let them disturb you again." Kenny said.

"Us?" Jane raised a brow.

"Yes, ya'll." Kenny shot back.

"Stop fighting!" Clementine whined.

"Sorry Clem." Bonnie apologized for the rest of the group.

"Where are we going?" The child asked.

"We're not sure yet, Clem." Mike said.

"Oh..." The girl nodded. "Is there any fruit cake?" The child innocently questioned.

"Yeah there's one sitting right next to ya." Kenny snickered.

"Very funny Kenny." Luke rolled his eyes before addressing Clem. "No kiddo. There's no fruitcake."

"Oh." Clementine said somberly.

"I thought you said fruitcake was gross." Mike chuckled.

"It is. But I'm hungry." Clementine replied.

"So am I." Mike agreed. "I'd eat anything right now."

"Anything?" Clementine giggled.

"Maybe not anything...Almost anyth-" Mike stopped himself as he noticed he was only amusing everyone around him with the words that he was saying. He let out a sigh, "You know what...I'll just stop talking now."

Both Bonnie and Clem giggled at that.

"Maybe we should try to find something that would make a real meal." Jane said.

"Yeah, something to fill us up." Luke agreed.

"Preferably, something warm." Bonnie said.

"I'm sure they'll be plenty of food once we get to Wellington." Kenny said.

"Howe's probably has stuff left." Bonnie said. "We should-"

"We ain't going back there." Kenny protested.

"Stop." Clementine huffed.

"Knock it off, Clem." He demanded as he felt a small thud made by those little feet against his seat, it only added to his agitation. "Clementine. Stop."

"Stop what?" The girl asked faking a naive tone.

"Kicking the seat?" He asked.

"I wasn't." Clementine replied.

"You were." Kenny said back.

"No I wasn't...I was punching it." She said.

"Well, stop." Kenny grumbled.

"I'll stop if you stop." She bargained.

"Me?" Kenny questioned.

"You keep starting fights." The eleven year old, crossed her arms. "I'll stop if you stop." She repeated.

"I'm not starting fights. I'm just trying to get the group somewhere safe." Kenny argued.

"I realize that...You keep saying it." Clementine said. "Doesn't mean you have to fight with everyone."

"I knew you'd take their side." Kenny huffed.

"There are no sides! I just want you ALL to stop fighting!" Clementine groaned, turning to look out the window.

Kenny scowled at the girl, continuing to drive as he felt annoyance eating at him.

"Clementine, I'm sorry. We won't fight anymore." Luke said, seeing how the girl was getting upset.

"Promise?" Clementine asked, looking over to him.

"Yeah. I promise, kiddo." Luke said.

"Okay." She knew he couldn't promise that for everyone, but it made her feel a tad bit better.

"Luke's right. Everyone should just tone it down a not." Bonnie said. "No fighting for the rest of the night."

Clementine nodded. "I think everyone's just cranky."

"You're right. Everyone's just stressed." Bonnie said in agreement.

"It's late. Why don't we find some place to rest?" Mike suggested.

Kenny let out a sigh, "What the hell do you expect to find in the middle of nowhere."

"Hey! No fighting." Clementine said sternly.

"I'm not." Kenny sighed. "I'm just saying..."

"He has a point." Luke agreed. "It's not like there's some magic h-"

"A house!" Clementine voiced, cutting Luke off and grabbing everyone's attention.

"What was that, darlin'?"

"There's a house." Clementine said, straightening up and pointing out the window.

The group exchanged looks, and Kenny let out a sigh before driving towards the house Clementine had pointed out.


	8. Chapter 8

"This might be a good place to stay the night." Bonnie shrugged, "What do you guys think?"

The others made noises of agreement, making sure to stay on guard in case the place wasn't as safe as it looked.

"What are we doing?" Clementine asked. "Why are we just standing here?"

Luke place his hands on her shoulders causing her to tilt her head towards him. "We can't just run in there, Clem."

"Luke's right. Lets check it out first. Make sure we're not trapping ourselves." Jane agreed.

Upon hearing that Kenny raised a brow, "You sure that's a good idea?"

"Kenny." Bonnie called his name warningly and the man groaned in response.

"What?" Kenny grumbled.

"Please." Was all she said.

"I'm just saying. I don't want a repeat of what happened last time." Kenny said, shooting a look over to Luke and Jane.

Luke looked down guiltily scratching his neck. "Can we just put that behind us?"

Kenny gave him a pointed look. "No. We can't."

Luke gave a sigh, but Jane on the other hand seemed unbothered.

"We'll be fast. In and out." Jane said.

"That's what she said." Mike muttered under his breathe.

"Mike!" Bonnie cried, delivering an elbow to his stomach, before shaking her head.

"What's that mean?" Clementine questioned

"Nothing Clem. Don't worry about it." Bonnie replied.

"We'll go in, see if there's anything we can scavenge and then call you guys." Jane assured.

Kenny gave a reluctant nodded. It looked like they might be staying here tonight. "Alright. You two just hollar if you need anything."

"Jane and I got this." Luke said.

"I'll help." Clementine offered.

"Clem," Kenny called.

"Sure, Clem. You can help." Luke said, cutting Kenny off. "Just stick close to me."

Clementine smiled, nodding her head.

* * *

They had split up to check the downstairs area. Clementine was currently in the living room area. She was disappointed that there hadn't been anything useful, but maybe if the others were okay with it, they could stay there for a while. It was a hell of a lot warmer than it was outside, plus it seemed pretty abandoned, she didn't think anyone was staying there seeing as though the place was bare of food and supplies.

When the child felt a tap on her shoulder she quickly turned, thinking the worse. She immediately sighed in relief when she saw it was only Luke.

"Hey Clem." Luke called to the little girl.

"You scared me." She told him.

"Sorry." Luke responded, moving to sit on the nearby couch.

"Did you find anything?" She asked as Luke took a seat.

"Not much." He shrugged before beckoning the girl over with a finger, "Come here. I got something to show you."

"What is it?" Clementine questioned, raising a brow as she made her way over to him. "Luke?"

Luke moved his hands in front of him. "Look what I found."

"What?" Clementine looked to the man's hands. Her golden eyes widened in surprised at the sight of the pretty pearl necklace Luke held in his hand.

"Wow..." Clementine gave a small smile, reaching out a little hand to touch the beautiful necklace.

"You want it?" Luke asked.

"Huh?" The little girl seemed surprised at his question.

"Here, let me put it on you." He said, moving to place it around her neck. When he finished he smiled, "You look just like a princess." He commented.

"Really?" Clementine asked.

"Yeah." He nodded. "Like it?"

Clementine shrugged, lowering her head. She wondered if it belonged to the people who had own the house before the apocalypse or someone else who had passed through or taken shelter in the house. She wondered if they were still alive or not. "...It's not mine." She said.

"It is now." Luke replied causing her to give a tiny pout.

"You guys find anything?" Jane's voice caused Clementine to give a small jump.

"Not much. Other than a necklace." Luke replied, straightening up.

Jane raised a puzzled brow. "Necklace?"

"Yep." Luke motioned towards Clem. "She looks just like a princess." He repeated causing little Clementine's cheeks to flush a light red.

Jane gave a small smile, but said nothing.

"Anyway...This place seems pretty clear." Jane spoke.

Luke nodded in agreement. "Yeah."

"What about upstairs?" Clementine voiced, tugging Luke's sleeve to get his attention. "Can I check?"

"Uhh..." Luke was going to tell her to wait for him, but Jane spoke before him.

"Sure." Jane said.

"Okay." Luke sighed. "Be careful."

"I will." Clementine nodded.

Luke watched her run up the stairs before opening the door and calling to the others. "Looks clear. You guys can come in."

As the group made it into the house everyone gathered in the living room.

Kenny took looked around, asking aloud, "Where's Clem?"

"She went to check out the bedroom." Luke said.

"By herself?" Kenny narrowed his eyes.

"She can handle herself." Jane piped in.

"She's-"

"Right here." Clementine said, causing the group to look in her direction.

"That was fast." Luke commented. The child didn't respond and Luke noticed she seemed bothered by something.

"How'd it go, kiddo?" Luke asked.

"Umm..." Clementine shifted nervously.

"You okay, Clem?" Bonnie asked.

"Yeah." Clementine muttered.

"Did you find anything?" Luke questioned.

"There's a man...in the bedroom." The young girl said, looking uncomfortable.

"He alive?" Mike asked.

"I...don't know." Clementine responded. "He's just...laying there."

The adults exchanged glances, but followed the girl down the hall into the bedroom.


	9. Chapter 9

Kenny let out a sad sigh when he spotted the man Clementine had mention, lying motionless on the bed. He couldn't help but be reminded of what Katjaa did. How she took her own life after Duck... No. He couldn't think about that right now. Kenny looked down and noticed Clementine reaching down and picking up a bottle.

"Anything in that?" The bearded man asked.

"Uh-uh. It's empty." The little girl replied.

"What happened to him?" Luke asked.

"Seems like the guy overdosed." Bonnie replied sadly.

"Overdosed?" Clementine spoke quietly, sounding confused.

"He took too many pills." Bonnie explained.

"But isn't medicine supposed to make you feel better?"

"Not if you take too much. If you overdose...this happens."

"Oh...What kind of medicine was it?" Clementine asked.

"Looks like sleeping pills." Bonnie said, picking one of the fallen pills up and looking at it.

Clementine raised a brow. "What's that?"

"They help you go to sleep." Mike chimed in.

"So he's sleeping? Can't we wake him up?" Clementine asked feeling excitement and nervousness rushed over her at the thought of meeting a new person.

Luke would of chuckled at the girl's innocence, if not for the situation, instead he frowned. "Naw Clem...He's dead."

"Oh..." Clementine's face fell. "That's sad."

"Yeah." Kenny agreed. "Poor bastard."

"He must have found this place before us." Mike said. "Wonder what led him to this point?"

"I guess...He just couldn't handle life anymore." Luke said sadly.

Clementine moved towards the man to get a better look at him. Kenny quickly caught the girl's shoulder, stopping her from moving forward. "Stay away from him."

"Why?" She didn't understand. The guy was either dead or sleeping. So just wanted to know for sure which it was.

"They had some food, but otherwise, this place is pretty cleaned out and this guy...you know."

"Well, there ain't nothing useful around...No point in staying in here." Kenny said. Clementine didn't need to see that. He had released the girl and didn't notice her inching towards the man.

"Why hasn't he turned?" Clementine wondered, but nobody answered. She hated how the grown ups would just ignore her. Moving closer, she gave the man a shake, maybe he was just sleep and would wake up.

"We might find something else." Luke replied.

"I thought you already checked the house. Ain't nothing here."

"It wouldn't hurt to do a double check."

"If you ain't find nothing the first time why would you-"

"AHH!" Clementine screamed as a walker grabbed her. She tried to pull away, but it's grip was strong.

"Clementine!"

Without warning she felt the monster's weight knock her to the ground. She could feel it's cold hands on her neck as it pinned her down. The girl struggled to break free. As the walker fought to keep grip on the child's struggling body, it's hand caught her necklace. Clementine felt it break, scattering pearls in all directions. Everything was happening so fast, she couldn't escape. She thought for sure it was over.

Kenny quickly passed AJ to Mike before rushing over and yanking the walker off of the girl.

Clementine let out a shaky breath, eyes still wide, she scrambled away from the walker as Kenny freed her from it's grasp.

Knocking it to the ground, he begin punching it, over and over again. Blood stained his fist as he beat the walk to death...Well...re-death. Screaming curses and foul words to it. Clementine looked on, feeling terrified.

"No. One. Touches. My. FUCKING. FAMILY!

He emphasized each word with a punch, not stopping, even when Clementine grabbed hold of his shoulder, trying to stop him.

"K-Kenny..." The girl called reaching for him.

Kenny slapped her hand away, causing her to flinch. The girl took a step back, startled by the rage that filled her friend's eyes. Kenny turned back to the walker and continued to assault the corpse in front of him.

"Kenny, it's dead!" Bonnie cried, rubbing a soothing hand over Clementine's back as the girl trembled. "It's dead." She repeated, keeping Clem close to her.

Kenny let out a breath, slowly approaching Clem. The girl's eyes were full of fear and she flinched when he touched her. He knelt down in front of her. "Clem, are you alright, darlin'?"

She didn't reply.

"Clem." Kenny spoke, softly. "It...It's alright. You're okay, hon."

"It...It almost...It almost got me, Kenny."

"I know. I know. But it didn't. You're okay."

Kenny silently wrapped the girl into a hug, which she accepted.

"You okay, Clem?" Luke asked.

The girl didn't answer. She just kept her face buried in Kenny's chest.

"I'm gonna check the house for anything we might have missed." Jane said breaking the silence that briefly filled the room.

"Whatever." Kenny grumbled. "We just need to get to Wellington." He said, looking down at Clementine, who was still completely shaken up by what had occurred.

"No way we're getting there tonight." Bonnie said, looking out the window, it was becoming dark. "We should just stay here." She suggested.

"Bonnie's right. We're all tired." Mike agreed. "Let's just stay her for the night."

"Fine." Kenny sighed, knowing he wasn't going to win. Shaking his head in displeasure, he left the room, bringing Clementine with him.

* * *

"How's she doing?" Kenny asked, holding AJ close to him.

"She's fine." Bonnie said, moving away from the little girl. "No bites or scratches. She was probably just scared."

The two had taken the distraught child and did all they could to try to comfort and restore her to some level of calm.

Kenny sighed. Clementine didn't seem to get scared to often. It was weird seeing her like this. "I'm gonna fix AJ a bottle, you stay right here Clem."

The girl kept quiet, not even looking at him.

With a sigh, he stood, but was surprised, when the girl got to her feet and quickly launched herself into Kenny's arms. Kenny quickly shifted in order to keep his balance from her sudden embrace. With the baby still in his grasp, he used his free arm to rub the girl's back. "It's okay, darlin'. You're fine." Kenny said, shifting AJ in his arms.

"How about I make AJ a bottle." Bonnie offered. "You can stay with Clem."

"Yeah. Thanks." Kenny nodded. "It's alright, Clem."

There was no response from the girl. She only stared straight ahead of her, looking at nothing.


	10. Chapter 10

Clementine hadn't left his side since the scare with the walker. Kenny was concerned as the little girl hadn't spoken a word either.

"You okay, hon?"

Clementine didn't respond. Kenny remember something similar happening with Duck when this whole thing had first started, back at the drug store. Clementine must have been in shock. Poor kid. She was really shaken up this time, Clementine had been grabbed numerous time, but that was such a close call.

"Clem?"

"She okay?" Luke asked, entering the room. He had his hands behind his back.

"I...I don't know." Kenny said, before quickly shaking his head. "She'll be fine."

Luke looked over to the child, eyes full of worry. He moved over to her."Hey, Clem." He offered her a kind smile and knelt in front of her. "How you doing kiddo?"

Clementine didn't answer.

"You ignoring me, Clem?"

Clementine breathed in the her nose. "What?" She mumbled, finally speaking for the first time in hours.

"How're you feeling, princess?"

"I'm not the princess anymore."

"Hmm?"

"The necklace broke."

"Yeah, I saw." "But it doesn't matter. Look."

"At what?"

"Open your eyes, silly." Luke chuckled.

With a sigh, she opened her eyes. "What is it?"

"Look."

"You fixed it?"

"Nah. There was more than one." Luke said, moving the necklace so she could see it better. "See, this one's a different color."

Clementine hesitantly reached out a hand and touched it.

"Lemme put it on you." Luke said.

"But-" Luke didn't allow her to protest, he quickly placed the necklace on the child's head.

"There. You look even more like princess now."

Clementine didn't reply, but Luke noticed a small smile tugging at her lips.

"A princess needs a castle." He said, trying to cheer her up. "Let me show you something." He reached out a hand to her.

Clementine looked over to Kenny who was feeding AJ as if asking for permission to go.

"Go ahead, hon." Kenny said, feeling the girl's eyes on him.

Clementine slowly stood, allowing Luke to take her hand and led her out of the room.

* * *

"D-Did you make this?" Clementine asked, awe filling her voice.

"Yep. What do you think?" Luke smiled to the girl. "Pretty cool, huh?"

Clementine nodded. "It looks like a tent."

"Yeah, I guess it does. It's called a blanket fort." Luke told her.

"Can I see inside?" Clementine asked.

"Of course." Luke said.

Clementine beamed happily, which was a drastic turn from her earlier mood. Luke smiled as she made her way under the blanket, he was happy that he was able to pull her out of that state of shock.

"What do you think Clem?" Luke called to the child.

"It's so cool!" Clementine said. "You should come in too."

"Hmm?"

"Come on. Come on." Clementine urged, sounding just like the kid she was.

"Alright, alright. If that is what your highness desires." Luke didn't mind playing with the girl. As long as he didn't have to see her in the state she had been in.

* * *

Kenny was still annoyed that they had decided to stop. They'd barely made any distance. He was also wondering what had caused Clementine's strange behavior earlier. He'd never seen her react like that in any situation. And he knew for sure she wasn't the type of kid that needed coddling. Maybe he'd just ask her tomorrow. She seemed to be doing better anyway, as she spent the rest of the day hanging around Luke, who had surprisingly been able to pull her from her withdrawn state.

He sighed looking on the bright side. At least he could sleep tonight. And he had a blanket. It was great to be warm for once after being out in the cold weather for so long.

"Kenny?"

He immediately recognized that voice. "Yeah, Clem?"

"Can I stay with you?" The girl asked.

"What happened to Luke?" Kenny questioned back.

Clementine pouted. "He keeps rolling around and he took all the blanket away."

Kenny laughed, pulling the blanket back. "Alright, darlin'. You can stay with me."

"Thanks." She smiled snuggling next to him. "Kenny..."

"Yes?" Kenny asked.

"Are you mad at me?" Clementine inquired innocently.

"Why would I be?" Kenny asked back.

Clementine only shrugged.

"Okay..." Kenny sighed, "You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

Clementine kept quiet for a moment before changing the subject, "What's the plan?"

"Plan?"

"For tomorrow, what are we going to do?" Clementine asked.

"Wellington still sounds like it'd be the best bet." Kenny said.

"Sounds good to me." She agreed.

He smiled happy that Clem was on his side. "You feeling better now?"

Clementine gave a small nod. "Yeah."

"What was that all about?" Kenny asked.

"I...I don't know." Clementine mumbled.

"You don't know?" Kenny questioned.

"No...I just..." Clementine paused trying to find the right word. "I just left."

Kenny raised an eyebrow, not understanding what the girl meant. "What do you mean?"

"I was thinking about being somewhere else. In my mind I went somewhere else..." Clementine tried her best to explain. "Sometimes...Sometimes, I just need to get away."

"From what?" Kenny asked.

"Everything." Clementine sighed, she really didn't want to talk about this.

"Why?" Kenny asked. "Is it because of me?"

Clementine chewed on the inside of her mouth, why wouldn't he just drop it.

"Is it?" Kenny asked again, voice unintentionally sounding harsh.

"No...It's not that." Clementine shook her head, fighting another sigh.

"It's not what?" Kenny demanded.

"It's not you." Clementine said.

"Then what?" Kenny asked.

"I thought I was gonna die." Clementine finally breathed out. "And...And you were so angry..." Clementine continued. "I was scared, okay."

"Clem..."

"And I thought you were mad...because of me." Clementine told him.

"Why would you think that, hon?"

Clementine shrugged. "People just get mad at me a lot."

"I wasn't. I wasn't mad because of you, Clem." Kenny said. "I was...I was trying to protect you. You know that."

"Yeah. I know." Clementine nodded. "I overreacted okay. Let's just leave it at that."

Kenny looked at the girl for a moment, she obviously didn't feel like chatting at the moment. "Okay. We can talk in the mornin'." Kenny said. "Lets just get some sleep, hon."

"Okay, Kenny." Clementine agreed, closing her eyes. "Night."

"Goodnight, darlin'."


	11. Chapter 11

Kenny groaned, feeling pain in his back from sleeping on the ground. He peeled his eye open, seeing bright shafts of sunlight streaming through the window.

The light cause him to once again close his eye and roll to his side. "Clem?"

When he didn't receive a response he reopened his eyes, only to discovered the child was missing from her prior spot.

Kenny had to force himself not to panic. Now awake, he forced himself up, taking a moment to stretch before entering the dining room.

He was a bit taken aback when he noticed everyone, except the kids, were sat around the table.

"Where are the kids?" He's asked

"They're in the other room. I made little Alvin a bottle and Clementine offered to feed him." Bonnie answered.

"Alright." He was glad that the group were willing to step up and take care of the kids. And he trusted Clementine with Alvie, she was responsible and mature. "So ya'll ready to head out."

"Actually...We talked while you were sleeping..." Bonnie said.

"Have you?" Kenny crossed his arms and raised a brow.

"We think we should just stay here a few days." Bonnie continued.

"What?" Kenny asked a bit irritated.

"Clementine needs more recovery time. Since we're here she should be able to rest a while. Luke's could use sometime to heal up. We all could." Bonnie stated.

"Yeah and this place is safe." Mike agreed.

"We'll run out of food." Kenny retorted.

"We already thought of that. Jane suggested that she go out and see what we can bring back." Luke said.

"Right. I'm gonna tag along, just to be safe."

Mike added.

"So...My opinion just don't matter?" Kenny huffed.

"You're not trying to give an opinion. You're trying to make a decision for the whole group." Jane said.

"I'm doing what's best for the kids." Kenny told them.

"The kids are fine." Bonnie sighed.

"For now. " Kenny said. "What happens when we run out of food."

"We won't run out of food. That's the point in going out to hunt." Jane rolled her eyes.

"And what about formula. Don't forget we have a baby with us." Kenny reminded them.

"That's why I suggested we go back to Howes." Jane said.

"We ain't going back there. That's fuckin' stupid." Kenny quickly shook his head.

"And why's your idea any better?" Jane questioned.

Kenny shook his head, fed up with having to explain why Wellington was the best idea. "If we get to Wellington-"

"Wellington doesn't exist." Jane cut him off.

"It does." Kenny said stubbornly.

"You really think so, man?" Asked Mike. "Cause it sounds too good to be true."

"Ain't no way so many people heard of it and its fake." Kenny said. "Ya'll-"

"Look what I found!" Clementine's little voice interrupted.

"Not now Clem." Kenny barely paid her any mind.

"But it's pretty cool." Clementine said, a nonchalant tone in her voice.

With a sigh Kenny turned to look at the girl. "Where's Alvie?"

"He's asleep in other room." She said quickly, with a glance over her shoulder."Look what I found." She repeated, bring the attention to the object in her hand.

"Is that a box cutter?" Mike asked.

"I don't know. I guess." Clementine shrugged, having no idea what it was called. She figured a knife was a knife. "It's sharp. So I thought I could hold onto it."

"Where'd you get it?" Kenny asked.

"In the the drawer by the bed." Clementine answered.

"I thought I told ya not to go back in that room." Kenny's tone was disapproving.

"Oh come on, Kenny. I was just looking for supplies." Clementine replied. "It had some extra blades too."

"Put it back where ya found it." Kenny ordered. He was already annoyed that the group had decided it wouldn't hurt to stay a few more days, and Clementine wasn't helping his mood.

"Why?" Clementine questioned.

"Because I don't want you playing with that." Kenny said. Plus it was probably dirty and he didn't want her to cut herself on it.

Clementine rolled her eyes. She hated being treated like a kid. "I'm not going to play with it. I know it's not a toy."

Kenny sighed, "Clem, put it away."

"But Kenny..." Clementine protested.

Seeing the situation getting bad, Mike spoke, "Clem, why don't you-"

"No." Clementine gave a childish pout. "I found it." Clementine replied. "Besides, what's the worst that can happen?"

"Clementine, c'mon." Luke joined. Clementine was being so mouthy lately and Kenny was in such a bad mood, he didn't want her getting in trouble.

"But I need it. It might be a good weapon." She tried to convince them to allow her to keep it.

"Would you just get rid of the damn thing?!" Kenny raised his voice, losing his patience.

Clementine narrowed her eyes, dropping boxcutter she had found before crossing her arms and walking away.

Luke knelt down to picked up the blade that the girl had dropped so no one would step on it.

Nobody said anything about the girl's act of rebellion.

Luke sighed, that was exactly what he was trying to prevent. He quickly followed after the girl to talk to her.

* * *

"Hey, Clem." Luke sat beside the girl.

Clementine didn't even turn to look at him as she questioned in annoyance, "What do you want?"

"You okay, kid?" Luke asked.

The girl stayed quiet, staring blankly towards the wall.

"Kid?"

Clementine finally let out a sigh. "Is Kenny angry with me?"

"Of course not." Luke said.

Clementine looked to the man. "He yelled me and I didn't even do anything wrong. He's always so mad."

"I know..." Luke knew that was true. The man did seem to be have a hard time keeping his temper lately and when it came to Clementine who loved to test people, it seemed to be impossible.

"He doesn't mean it Clem. He's just..." He trailed off thinking of the words.

"Cranky?" Clementine finished, with a tiny tilt of her head.

"Yeah. He's just cranky." Luke agreed with the child's choice of words.

"Doesn't mean he has to take it out on me." She huffed.

"Why wouldn't you just listen to him?" Luke asked.

"Because I don't have to. I'm not a little kid. And I wish he would stop treating me like one. It's annoying." Clementine stated.

"Clem-"

The girl raised a hand to silence him. "If you think I am, you're just as annoying as him."

"You don't think that." Luke said.

"I do." Clementine claimed.

"No you don't. How could you find this face annoying?" Luke joked.

"You're arrogant too." Clementine smirked.

"I'm arrogant?...Do you even know what that means?" Luke chuckled.

"You're conceited." Clementine defined. "You're full of yourself."

"And I think you're a bit cranky too." Luke teased.

"I am not!" Clementine snapped.

"You sure about that?" Luke asked.

"Yes..." Clementine pouted for a moment. "Maybe I am being cranky..."

"You think?"

"But I wasn't earlier. It's only cause Kenny was treating me like crap." Clementine explained.

Luke nodded his understanding. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

"N-No..." Clementine quickly shook her head. "No, I don't want to talk anymore."

"Listen, Clem. Kenny doesn't mean it, you know how he is."

"I guess."

"And you are a kid." Luke said.

Clem shot him a glare.

"But just so you know, you're a pretty badass kid." Luke told her causing the girl to grin.

"A lot more badass than you could ever be." Clementine teased.

"Aww...Is that how you treat me?" Luke pouted.

"Huh?" Clementine sent him a puzzled look.

"Look what I picked up for you." Luke dug into his pocket showing her the boxcutter.

Clementine's eyes grew wide and Luke noticed a small smile tugging at her lips. "I can keep it?"

"Yeah. Don't tell anyone." Luke brought a finger to his lips.

"I won't." Clementine nodded.

Luke handed her the knife. "Good. And you be careful with that."

"Yes, dad." Clementine rolled her eyes.

Luke let out a chuckle. "Alright, kiddo. I'll leave you to your thoughts." He place a hand on her head, surprised she allowed the gesture. "Call me if you need me."

"Thank you." She said turning away from him.

* * *

 **Thank you everyone for the faves and follow and reviews. I really appreciate it!**

 **I'm glad you've stuck around so far. I know I'm not always to consistent with my writing because life happens, but I'm definitely going to be trying to improve on that.**

 **Thanks for all your support! :-)**


	12. Chapter 12

"You shouldn't talk to her like that." Jane nagged after Luke had left to find Clementine.

"Why not?" Kenny asked.

"You're not her father." Jane replied.

"I'm not trying to be her father. I'm just being a father." Kenny retorted.

"And you should stop. She doesn't need one." Jane sighed.

"You don't know what she needs." Kenny scoffed.

"And what is it that you think she needs?" Jane challenged.

"She needs guidance. She's becoming defiant and-"

Jane stopped him. "Most kids are at her age."

"Most kids have someone to look out for 'em." Kenny pointed out.

"That doesn't matter anymore. Clementine's not just a kid." Jane argued.

"She is a kid. Why don't you understand that." Kenny said.

"Because she's not. She can handle herself." Jane replied.

"You're probably the reason she thinks she can do whatever the hell she wants." Kenny grumbled.

"She can." Jane said.

"She can't." Kenny spoke flatly.

"She's not your kid. So don't boss her around." Jane said.

"She's my responsibility. I'm taking care of her." Kenny stated.

"She can take care of herself." Jane just repeated, no longer interested in the conversation.

"She nearly died, twice!" Kenny exclaimed.

"I'm sure everyone has had at least one close call by now." Jane said.

Kenny shook his head, Jane just didn't understand. "She was terrified yesterday."

"She was probably terrified the first time and every other time." Remarked Jane.

"But you saw how she was, Jane." Kenny said.

"It was just shock." Jane said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Exactly!"

"Was she really terrified of the walker? Or was she terrified of you?" Jane suddenly asked.

Kenny's eyes widened as Jane's word set in. She hadn't been scared of him, had she? There was no way. "It was the walker. She said it almost got her." Kenny said, sounding unsure before he let out a huff. "Why am I having this conversation with you?" He sighed. "Just...Mind your own business will ya?"

"She's going to start hating you if you keep treating her the way you do." Jane voiced.

"You don't know that." Kenny argued, voicing quaking slightly.

"I don't. But I know that when I was a kid, if someone would've told me I 'had' to do something I would've rebelled against it. Clem's the same way."

Kenny opened his mouth to argue, but closed it again realizing that was true. Clementine didn't like being told what to do, but he was trying to protect her. She needed him to keep her safe. Right?

* * *

"Hey, Clem." Kenny offered the child a small smile.

"Hi." Clementine spoke in a small voice.

"Look, darlin, I'm sorry for snapping at you." Kenny gently said to the girl.

Clementine nodded. "That's okay. I know you didn't mean it."

"Yeah." Kenny said. "No hard feelings?"

Clementine smiled very faintly. "No hard feelings." She repeated.

Kenny let out a relieved sigh, before looking down to the child, "Where you heading?

"Outside." Clementine said. She hated being inside, she felt trapped.

"With who?"

"...I'm just going to explore around." Clementine told him with a small shrug.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Clem. Why don't you go draw or something?"

Clementine crossed her arms. She didn't like being told what to do, by anyone. "I don't want to."

"Clem-"

"Give her a break, Kenny." Jane said, Kenny's over-protectiveness was starting to annoy her.

"What?"

"I'm pretty sure she'll be fine. She's used to being by herself." Jane spoke.

Kenny sent the woman a glare. She was just making it worse. She was the reason Clementine thought she could do whatever she wanted. Gritting his teeth, he turned to Clementine. "Clem, go get you papers and draw."

"I don't want to." Clementine said.

"If she doesn't want to draw, she doesn't have to." Jane backed the girl up.

"Stay outta this." Kenny growled. "Can't you just do what I tell you the first time I say it?" Kenny continued.

"Why do you want me to draw so badly?" Clementine asked, slightly annoyed.

"Why don't you want to?" Kenny shot back

Clementine sighed, "I just don't feel like it."

"Why not? You use to love drawing."

"Yeah, but after a while it gets boring." Was the girls monotonous answer.

"Then why do you go play in the "castle" Luke made you?" Kenny suggested.

"It broke." Clementine said.

"How?" Kenny questioned.

"It fell down and I need him to put it back up." Clementine explained.

"You could do it." Jane pointed out.

"But he made it really cool! I want him to do it."

"Well you can ask him." Kenny said.

"He's resting at the moment." Clementine notified.

"You know what you could do?" Kenny started.

Clementine raised a brow, "What?"

"You could always-"

"I'm not going to draw." Clem cut him off. "I'd prefer to go outside?" The girl asked.

"Maybe later." Kenny didn't want her out there alone.

"Why not now?" Jane asked.

Kenny decided to ignore the woman. "What are you going to do out there?"

"Look around. I don't know, just something." Clementine said.

"I don't think it's a smart idea." Kenny tells her.

"Why?" Clementine asked.

"Nobody's gonna be out there with you?"

"I'm not a kid. I don't need a babysitter." Clementine argued.

"You can say you're not a kid, but I'm not letting ya going out there on your own, Clem." Kenny said.

"She can take care of herself, Kenny." Jane speaks.

"That don't matter Jane. She ain't going out there alone."

"That's not fair." Clementine huffed.

"Let it not be fair." Kenny said.

"You're mean." Clementine huffed.

"Yep." Kenny agreed.

"And you're unfair." Clementine continued.

"Yep."

"AND you think I'm a little kid!"

"Yep."

"But I'm not." Clementine quickly added.

"Yep."

Clementine narrowed her eyes noticing what he was doing, "And you're gonna let me go outside." She said, expecting him to say yep.

Kenny smirked, seeing through her plan. "Nope."

Clem groaned. "I'm bored."

"Take a nap." Jane suggested.

Clem raised a brow. "I can't. I'm not even tired."

"I'd love a good nap right about now." Kenny said.

Clementine looked over to him noticing that he did look tired. "Then why don't you take one?"

"Are you seriously asking me that?" Kenny asked in a unamused manner.

"You're tired, right?" Clementine gave an innocent smile.

"Yeah, but I don't want you going outside." Kenny said.

"I won't. I won't." Clementine waved her hand, reassuring him.

Kenny didn't believe her. No way this kid, no matter how mature she was, was going to sit and do nothing while he took a nap. But even knowing so, he still agreed. "Alright."

"Really, just draw or something?" He suggested.

Clem let out a sigh, but nodded. "Fiiiine."

Closing his eyes, he lay on the couch hearing a shuffling movement as he drifted off.

* * *

"Going outside?"

Clementine jumped in surprise, turning to face the woman. "Oh...Hey, Jane."

"I thought Kenny didn't want you to go outside." Jane said.

"He doesn't." Clementine shrugged.

"Won't he be upset?"

Clementine sent her a look."You don't have to tell him."

Jane rolled her eyes. "I don't plan to."

"Good."

"Where are you going?" Jane asked.

"Just for a walk. It's boring in here." Clementine sighed, "Want to come?"

"No thanks." Jane refused the offer.

"Suit yourself." Clementine shrugged.

"Hey, Clem," Jane started. "Just so you know, I'm not taking the fall if your not back by time Kenny wakes up."

"I'm not asking you to."

"I just want you to know." Jane said. "So if you get in trouble don't blame me."

"I won't get in trouble. And I will be back before he wakes up." Clementine replied confidently before walking off.

* * *

"Where's Clementine?" Kenny asked sounding groggy.

"No idea." Jane replied.

"What do you mean no idea? She didn't go outside did she?" Kenny asked, sounding concerned

"Beats me."

"Jane, I'm not playing. Where is she?" He nearly growled.

"I don't know!" Jane snapped.

"If your covering for her..." Kenny trailed off trying to calm down. "Just tell me where she is."

"I really don't know." Jane said.

"CLEM!" Kenny called through the house.

"What's happening?" Bonnie asked, coming down the stairs.

"I can't find Clem." Kenny said.

"What?" Bonnie looked fearful.

"Clementine's missing!" Kenny exclaimed.

"She ain't playing in the pillow fort?" Bonnie asked.

"It's broken down." Kenny told her.

"S-She didn't leave...did she?" Bonnie stammered, looking towards the door.

"She ain't in the house. So yeah." Kenny barked in annoyance. "Yeah, she's gone."

"Y'all checked outside?" Luke entered to conversation and the room.

Bonnie started to reply, "Not yet-"

"The fuck is wrong with ya'll? Why would you just let her go out on her own?!" Kenny snapped

"She can take care of herself." Jane calmly replied. "Relax."

"Jane, if you know where she is, just tell us." Luke said.

Jane groaned, opening her mouth just as the door opened.

Kenny looked over to Mike and Clem as they walked through the door. He sighed in relief.

He quickly made his way to the girl, placing a hand on her shoulders causing her to look up at him.

"Where were you?" He asked the child.

"Outside." She said, giving him a strange look.

"Why?" Bonnie questioned.

"I was just looking around." Clementine said.

"Didn't I tell you not to go outside?" Kenny glared down at the girl.

"I was bored." Clementine said.

"You were bored?" Kenny echoed.

"Yes." The girl said walking pass him. "I'm fine, Kenny. Nothing happened."

"That's not the point, the point is you ignored me."

Clementine let out a groan, "You're my friend, not my dad."

"Clem-"

"No. I can take care of myself. You know that Kenny." She huffed. "You know I'm not some kid who needs babysitting."

"Clementine, get rid of the attitude." Kenny said, irritated.

"What attitude?" Clementine rolled her eyes.

"Clementine, I'm not in the mood for this." Kenny warned.

"I don't have an attitude. If anyone has an attitude its YOU." Clementine said.

"Yeah, well, I have a good reason." Kenny stated.

"What's the reason?" Clementine asked. "You've been bullying me all day. For nothing."

"I ain't 'bullying' you Clem. I'm trying to help ya." Kenny said.

"With what? I don't need any help." Clementine replied with a shake of her head. "Just stop."

The girl huffed no longer in the mood to hear him. Kenny could tell that she was no long listening and just stopped talking, there was no point in yammering to the child.

* * *

"Mike, Bonnie and I are heading out to look for supplies." Luke informed the remaining group.

"I can help." Clementine offered jumping up.

"You ain't going anywhere, Clem." Kenny said, looking up from Alvie who he was currently feeding, motioning towards the couch. "Sit."

"But I want to help." Clementine said.

"I'm sure the three of them can handle it. Just sit down." He commanded.

"Come on, Kenny." Clementine sighed in annoyance. "We've been over this."

"I just don't want you out there, you just woke up a while ago." Kenny told her.

"I'll be fine." Clementine tried to reassure him.

Kenny wasn't having it."Sit down."

"You're not my dad!" Clementine snapped.

"Sit the fuck down, Clementine."

Clementine's eyes widened and she sat on the couch, feeling hurt.

"Clementine..." Mike called, feeling Kenny's reaction was a bit harsh.

Kenny shot him a glare. "Go."

Mike wasn't in the mood to argue and walked away. Luke however approached the little girl. "Hey kid."

Clementine didn't reply, she only looked away.

"You okay?" Luke asked.

She gave a tiny bob of the head.

"Alright." Luke stood from his knelt down position, placing a hand on her head. "I'll be back soon, kiddo."

"Okay." Clementine muttered.

"Be good." Luke smirked.

Clementine rolled her eyes, but gave a small smile. "Whatever."

"Alright." With that Luke headed out with Mike.

Kenny sighed, Alvie had finally fallen asleep. Hearing movement across from him he look over to Clem, who was pushing herself off the couch. "Hey, Clem. I didn't tell you to move."

"You didn't tell me not to." Clementine said.

"Then I'll tell you right now. Sit there and don't get up until I tell you."

"Why?" Clementine huffed.

"How else am I going to keep an eye on you?"

"Do I look like a child to you?" Clementine questioned back with a glare.

Kenny shot her a look. "Want me to answer that?"

"...No."

"I could've help them." Clementine complained.

"I'm not going to argue with you Clem."

"They should be back by now." She anxiously looked to the door.

"I'm sure they're fine." Kenny said.

Clementine tried to distract herself from negative thoughts.

"I'm bored." She uttered absentmindedly.

Kenny didn't reply, Clementine sighed.

"Kenny, I'm bored." She whined.

"Heard ya the first time, darlin'." Kenny said, "I'm not here for your entertainment."

"I'm bored."

"Hi bored. I'm Kenny."

"Very funny." She rolled her eyes. "Do you think they're okay?" Clementine asked.

"Yeah." Kenny replied. "They're probably smarter than they look."

"This isn't fair!" Clementine huffed. "I could've help you know."

"Life isn't fair."

"You're not fair." Clementine crossed her arms and started chanting, "I'm bored."

Kenny groaned. He knew Clementine was just being a kid, but he was so used to her not being one that it sort of annoyed him.

"Clementine," Kenny spoke. "Stop it."

"I'm BORED!"

"Shut up!"

Clementine gave a flinch, turning away.

"Why are you acting like a-" Kid... She was a kid.

"A what?" Clementine urged, narrowing her eyes.

"A brat?" The words fell from his lips before her could stop them.

Feeling hurt, Clementine stood from the couch.

"Clem, don't leave this room."

The girl ignored him heading straight for the door.

"Clem, darlin', I didn't mean it." He tried, but she continued to walk.


	13. Chapter 13

Kenny hadn't meant to say that to the girl. He felt awful. He needed to apologize.

He was suddenly a loud bang from outside pulled out of his thought. He straightened up, shushing AJ, who was starting to cry.

Before he could do anything else, the door suddenly opened and in came a frantic looking Luke.

"I heard a gunshot. What's going on?" Kenny asked.

"Walkers." Luke breathed.

"How many?" Jane questioned.

"Quite a few...We might need help!"

"W-What's happening?" Clementine raced into the room, looking worried.

"Walkers." Kenny said.

"Clementine, Lemme hold your gun." Luke ordered.

Clementine gave a nod, handing her gun to Luke. Luke then rushed out wordlessly, Jane on his tail.

"Clem, stay here. Keep an eye on Alvie." Kenny commanded, handing her the baby.

"I can help." Clementine offered.

"No. You just stay inside." Kenny said.

"But-"

"Stay." He cut her off before running outside.

* * *

Clementine watched anxiously from the window. She didn't want anything bad to happen. She felt her heart pounding as she held AJ in her arm, watching the others fighting walkers.

Suddenly something caught her eye. "Luke!"

The man was clearly struggling. Her heart throbbed, Kenny told her to stay put, but she couldn't just watch her friend die. After a moment she threw the door open and ran outside, pulling out her gun she shot at the two walkers surrounding him

"Clem?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Thanks." Luke looked around. "Get back inside, Clem. I'm going to help Jane!"

"But I-" She wanted to tell him she could help, but Luke had run off before she could finish. Clementine clutched AJ closer to her looking around, wondering what she could do in anyway. She was tired of being treated like she couldn't do anything. She already proved to everyone how capable she was.

Noticing a walker behind Kenny, Clementine gave a yell, "Behind you!"

Kenny turned, just as the walker leapt on top of him. Clementine looked on, in fear. Unsure of what to do, she fearfully watched as the walker tried to bite Kenny, who was struggling to keep it off of him. Seeing Kenny reach for his gun which wasn't there, she reached for her own before remembering she handed to Luke. Holding AJ in one arm, she reached for the box cutter she had found. Taking it in her shaking hand she rushed over, stabbing the walker in the head.

Kenny reached for his gun, mentally cursing when he found it wasn't there. He must had dropped it somewhere. He tried to punch the walker, but failed. He looked around, catching a glance of Mike and Luke. Mike's gun ready to fire. He felt the walker getting closer. But suddenly it fell limp.

Kenny let out a shaky breath of relief. Pushing himself up his gaze fell to Clem.

Clementine adjusted AJ in her arms before hugging the man.

Kenny stood, frozen as the girl threw herself into his arms, hugging him tightly.

"Kenny, are you okay?" The girl asked.

"What are you doing out here?" Kenny demanded. "Are you hurt?"

"No."

"What about Alvie?" He asked.

"He's fine."

"Let me see him." He ordered, nearly snatching the infant from her arms. Kenny hushed the boy, not wanting him to draw anymore walkers, before turning angry eyes onto Clementine, demanding an explanation.

"Oh shit." Mike muttered, under his breathe.

"You dropped your gun. But it's okay cause...I...I got it." Clementine stammered.

The other exchanged worried looks, all knowing something big was about to go down.

"Get in the house, Clementine." Kenny said in a quiet yet stern tone.

"Am...Am I in trouble?" The girl nervously questioned.

"Get in the house."

* * *

"I didn't do anything!" Clementine protested.

"Yes, you did. I told you to stay in the house, Clem." Kenny replied.

"I saved your life! You should be thanking me!" The child exclaimed.

"Thanking you-" Kenny stopped, shaking his head.

"Yes! I saved your life!" Clementine said again.

"No. That's not the point. You-"

Clementine cut him off, with a look of defense on her face. "Then what is the point? What's the point of this stupid talk?" She asked. "I was trying to help, but you don't care."

"Clementine-"

She stopped him again. "Sorry, let me rephrase that. You don't fucking believe me."

"Watch your mouth, Clementine." He scold.

"I don't have to listen to you. You're not my dad!" The girl spat.

"It don't matter. And didn't I tell you to get rid of that box-cutter." Kenny said. "How the hell did you get it."

"...That doesn't matter." Clementine said, not wanting to rat Luke out. "Why are you so upset?" She changed the subject. "You dropped the gun, not me! You should be glad that I was there to help."

"If you hadn't been there, I'm sure someone else would've shot it." Kenny responded.

"Okay, Kenny. Whatever you say..." Clementine said.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Kenny suddenly asked.

"Nothing's wrong with me. What about you?" She shot back.

"You're not gonna talk to me like that." Kenny said.

"Why not? You think you can talk to me however you want and that I'll just sit there and take it. But that's not me." Clementine stated.

"I deserve a little respect!" Kenny exclaimed.

"So do I!" Clementine huffed before turning away.

"We're not done here!" Kenny called. "I still want to talk."

"What's there to talk about? It's not like you listen to me anyway." Clementine crossed her arms, attempting to walk away.

"Clementine, don't walk away from me." He quickly blocked her path. "You want to know why I'm so upset?"

The girl gave a nodded, urging him to explain. "Yeah."

"I told you to stay in the house." Kenny stated.

"Luke needed help. And so did you." Clementine argued.

"We were fine." Kenny said.

"Didn't look like it to me!" Clementine rolled her eyes. "I was trying to help."

"Like all the other times?" Kenny spat. "You brought that baby out there and risked his life. What if you got attacked?"

"I didn't." Clementine crossed her arms.

"What if you had." He asked. "This child's blood would be on your hands, Clementine."

His words hit her hard. "I...I wasn't-" She stammered. "I just wanted to help..."

"You know what, Clem. You'd be a lotta help if ya just listened for once." Kenny said.

Clementine lowered her head, feeling her heart drop into her stomach.

"I told you to stay inside." Kenny continued, feeling he was finally getting through to the girl. He couldn't stop himself. "Alvie could've died because of you. How many more people are you going to get killed?!"

"Stop." Clementine said in almost a whisper.

But he didn't stop. "One wasn't enough?!"

"Stop it..."

"You need more victims?"

"Stop..."

"I'd think after Lee you would get a clue, but clearly-"

"SHUT UP!" The girl screamed.

Kenny flinched, taken aback by the girl's shout.

"JUST SHUT UP! You think...You think I don't know it's my fault?! Everything is my fault my, I don't need you...or anyone else telling me that!"

"Clem, I-"

She didn't allow him to finish. With a shake of her head she ran off, passing the others who were watching the scene with looks of concern.

"Clem!" Luke called.

The girl dashed pass him, not taking the time to answer.

"Just leave her be, Luke." Bonnie said.

Kenny sighed. He hadn't meant to yell at the kid. He knew she was just trying to help. He thought about going after her, but after a few moments he decided it would be best if he gave her some time to herself.

* * *

Clementine ran to the bathroom and immediately begin crying.

After several minutes of sobbing non stop she heard someone knock. She froze.

"Clem?" Luke's voice sounded from outside the door. "You in here?"

"Please go away." Clementine pleaded in a whisper.

"You okay, Clem?" Luke asked.

"Yes." She tried to keep her voice as normal as possible. She didn't want him to know she was crying. "I want to be alone."

"Okay... Just come out when you're ready."

After a few seconds she heard his footsteps retreating down the hall, and she broke into tears once again.

* * *

Clementine couldn't sleep. She had to much on her mind. She decided to go to the bathroom and try to clear her thoughts a bit.

Once she made it she approached the mirror.

It was her fault. It was all her fault. If only she hadn't been so stupid. Why did people have to die because of her? She didn't understand. Was she cursed? Why did she get to live while everyone around her died. It wasn't fair.

"Why?" She choked out, staring at her reflection.

 _ **Murderer.**_

The word made her flinch as it echoed in her head.

"Shut up!"

 _ **Murderer.**_

"No...No..."

 _ **You killed them.**_

The child whimpered, bringing her hands to her head, giving it a violent shake, hoping to banish the echoing voice.

"Shut up...Shut up."

 _ **Murderer.**_

"No! Shut up. Stop it."

"Clem? You alright?" A voice suddenly was heard.

Clementine jumped, quickly turning to realize she had left the door cracked.

"It's my fault." Clementine mumbled,

"What's your fault?"

The girl didn't respond.

"Clem?" Luke reached out a hand.

"Don't!" Clementine cried jerking away. "It will happen to you too."

Luke was confused. "Hey, it's alright."

"Luke..." Clementine gently called.

"Yes?"

She looked up at him, teary eyed. "I don't feel too good."

"It's okay, Clem." He wrapped his arm around the girl's shoulder leading her into the other room. "Why don't you try to get some rest, okay?"

"Okay..." She agreed with a nod. "Luke,"

"Yeah, Clem?"

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

"For what?" Luke asked.

The girl didn't respond.

* * *

"How is she?" Kenny asked. Clementine had been quiet all morning, but he was sure Luke had spoke to the girl.

"She was in the fort when checked on her." Luke replied.

"Did you talk to her?" Kenny asked

"She didn't really want to talk. Wasn't gonna force her to."

Kenny let out a sigh. "She's so different."

"Hmm?"

"Clementine." Kenny said. "She's not that little girl I used to know."

"Course not, she grew up." Jane cut in.

"Yeah. She's become a completely new person." Kenny grumbled.

Clementine froze hiding at the door, listening to familiar voices mentioning her.

"Well when you're screaming at her like you do it ain't gonna help nothing." Luke said, irritated at how Kenny had been talking to the girl. He knew he was just being over-protective, but his way of showing it probably hurt the girl more than helped her.

"That's cause..." Kenny paused for a moment. "She doesn't know how to listen."

"She's still a kid." Luke said.

"Exactly. I tell her to do something, she does the complete opposite..." Kenny said. "If something went wrong...Alvie could've died. It would've been her fault."

"But he didn't. I don't see how yelling at her is gonna help anyone." Luke said.

"If I speak to her "nicely" she'll just ignore me." Kenny said. "I have to yell at her."

"It's just the age." Bonnie spoke up. "She'll get over it.

"I hope she gets over it really soon then." Kenny huffed. "I'm getting sick of this shit."

Clementine felt her eyes water, she turned to walk back to the bedroom, crawling back into her fort. She laid down. Kenny was sick of her. That...That hurt.

* * *

"Hey, Clem." Luke called as he approached the girl. She was sitting curled up on the couch, she hadn't moved from that spot all day. It worried him a bit.

He looked over to Kenny, who was holding AJ. Clem and Kenny hadn't spoken much to anyone and they absolutely refused to speak a word to each other.

"Are you hungry Clem?" Luke questioned.

"No." Clementine mumbled.

"C'mon, kid. You gotta eat something." He said, sternly.

Clementine sighed. Of course Luke would push her to eat. "Fine."

"Let's see what we got." Bonnie smiled, "How does chili sound, city mouse?"

"Thanks..." Clem muttered, accepting the can.

"Now I gotta find something to open up these cans with." Bonnie said.

"I have this." Clementine pulled the box cutter from her pocket.

"Hmm? Oh...This'll work." Bonnie smiled.

Clementine gave a small smile as well happy to be of assistance.

"Wha- Didn't I tell you get rid of that knife?" Kenny grumbled.

"So you want to talk now?" Clementine asked sarcastically.

"Yeah." Kenny scoffed. "I want ya to tell me why you got that damn knife."

"Because I can handle it. Just mind your own business will you?" She snapped.

"You are my business. I told you get rid of that shit." Kenny said.

"I don't have to listen to you. Stop bossing me around." She didn't even want to speak to him after the things he said to her yesterday.

"Fine...You know what...I'm done. Do whatever the fuck you want, Clementine." Kenny said, turning his attention to Alvie. He wasn't going to deal with Clementine's bullshit.

"You okay?" Luke asked, placing a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder

"I'm fine." She assured.

"Clem..."

"I said, I'm fine." Clementine repeated pulling away. She looked the man in the eye, "Okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah. If you say so." Luke let out a sigh, not believing the child. "Here. Let me open it for ya." Luke reached a hand out to take the can.

Clementine quickly shook her head. She wasn't a little kid, she could do it by herself. "I can do it." She said, sounding confident. She had to. She didn't want them to think she couldn't do things for herself. She didn't want them to get tired of her like Kenny was.

"You sure?" Luke asked.

"Yeah." She replied. He didn't think she could open a can? She'd just have to prove him wrong. "...I'm not a- Ow!" She said, looking at her finger that she had cut.

"You alright?" Luke asked.

"Y-Yeah...I'm fine." She nodded.

Kenny looked towards her and she saw a look of concern flash in his eyes for a brief second. He had opened his mouth to as if to say something, but closed it again as Luke spoke up.

"Lemme see." Luke said, beckoning her over.

"I'm alright." She said. "It doesn't hurt."

"It don't matter. We better take care of that cut." Luke said, also motioning for her to come closer to him. "Don't want it to get infected."

"No, no...I...I can do it." Kenny shot her a look, but she ignored it. "I'm fine." She assured, dashing from the room. She entered the bathroom and stood in front of the sink. The water was still working. She turned it out and let it wash over her cut finger. It stung a bit, but she could handle it.

The pain made her feel calm. It was strange. She had felt upset over the fight her and Kenny had, and she was sure she just made things worse, but this made everything feel better. She didn't think about the fight anymore.

She wondered if it was actually the pain, that made her so relaxed.

Looking down at her forearm, Clementine quickly reached into her pocket grabbed for the box cutter. Pressing it into her skin, she gave a small hiss at the pain.

She let out a small breath. She hadn't felt so...calm in weeks.

"Clem!" Luke's voice calling her from the other room made her jump.

"Coming!" She called back, quickly rinsing off her cut and putting the blade back in her pocket.

* * *

Clementine didn't know what had triggered these nightmares, but she hated them.

The second she drifted off her ears would be assaulted with yells, there were images of old group. They'd ask her why she let them die. They'd tell her they hated her. It was awful.

She'd wake up in a cold sweat and find herself unable to go back to sleep.

With every passing night Clementine was losing hours of sleep. Her dreams were becoming darker and scarier.

It eventually got to the point where Clementine hardly got any sleep and the girl woke up literally in tears every night.

In the morning she would feel awful. She was exhausted and it was clear to the others that the child wasn't doing too well.

This night wasn't much different, but after waking up, for some reason she made her way to the bathroom.

She wondered if Lee was really disappointed in her. She was so pathetic.

With flashbacks of her dream playing in her head, Clementine stared in the mirror. Her face was red from crying. "Stupid." She snapped. "Murderer."

The longer she stared at her reflection, the angrier she became.

She crashed down onto the floor, biting her lip to keep tears at bay.

She felt as if she was worthless.

She whimpered, reaching in her pocket for the box cutter she started slicing. She couldn't feel any pain. She couldn't feel anything.

She sliced hard and deep, feeling numb the more she cut.

Blood dripped from her arm, but she was too stressed out and angry to stop.

She could see the blood slowly dropping to the tile floor beneath her. She let out a deep breath.

Her head had started to throb, but that didn't stop her.

Finally, right when she thought she would pass out, she stopped.

She waited a few moments, starring at her arm in horror. What the hell had possessed her to do this to herself?

She sat there until the bleeding had slowed, then grabbed some tissue and applied pressure to the bloody wounds.

She used the tissue to wrap around her arm, as a makeshift bandage. She pulled her sleeve down, before cleaning the blood off the floor.

Her arm was throbbing and she felt extremely lightheaded, but she ignored it.

Walking on unsteady legs, she made her way out of the bathroom.

"Clem?" Luke called, noticing the child's sickly looking form. "You okay?"

"I'm f-fine." Just as she said the words her legs gave out. Luke quickly caught her.

"Let's get you to bed, okay?"

Clementine was too weak to respond. Luke noticed and just carried her wordlessly.


	14. Chapter 14

It was amazing. She never knew pain could feel so...good. She didn't want to stop. It made her forget the world. Made her feel less guilty for things that she had done. And all it took to feel that way was a simple slice along the wrist.

She hadn't made up with Kenny yet. They didn't seem to talk much. In fact, he completely ignored her, and she refused to say something to him just to get him to speak to her. She wasn't that desperate for his attention.

It didn't matter. Sure it upset her, but the cutting distracted her from the pain of losing Kenny as a friend.

It was her release, just one cut a day, she didn't want to go overboard again. She couldn't blow her cover. One was enough. Just one cut, a deep, and painful cut. Everyday.

One cut for being stupid, because that was why she kept getting people killed.

One cut for being "a brat" as Kenny called her.

One for being a burden.

And one for everyone she got killed, if she could even count that high without bleeding to death.

And of course, one cut for being her. If she couldn't think of a reason to cut, that would be it, just for being herself. She was right, the box cutter definitely came in handy.

But today, somehow, it wasn't enough. She had managed to get to three before she forced herself to stop cutting, she didn't want to cut too much or someone would notice.

After she finished, she watched the blood trickle from her wounds. With a deep breath, she grabbed a rag and cleaned the blood off her skin.

She knew if she asked for bandages the others would want to know why, so she left her cuts uncovered, pulling her sleeves down to hide them.

* * *

Since Clementine had fallen from Kenny's good graces, the man now made it clear that he wasn't going to bother with her.

"So you're just going to keep ignoring me like this?" Clementine asked in annoyance.

Silence.

"Alright, that's fine." She crossed her arms.

"You still have no idea what you did wrong?" Kenny finally spoke.

"No."

"You're one stupid kid then, Clementine." Kenny said harshly.

"I didn't do anything." Clementine defended.

"There's a right and a wrong. Guess which is which?" Kenny said.

"You are the wrong one." Clementine replied.

"No. You are."

"I'm not wrong because I didn't do anything!" Clementine snapped.

"Well, that's your opinion." Kenny said, looking away from her.

"Yes it is." Clementine nodded. "And I think everyone else would agree with me."

"Then they can be wrong too." Kenny shrugged.

"Why are you doing this?" Clementine asked.

"Because you nearly killed this child." Kenny said, motioning towards AJ.

"I saved your life!" Clementine said.

"And could've killed the baby in the process." Kenny responded.

"I wasn't going to fucking kill him. I'd die myself before I let that happen." Clementine said.

Kenny shot her a glare, "You're crazy if you think I'm going to let a kid talk to me like this."

"We don't have to talk at all." Clementine said.

"Well, that's fine by me." Kenny replied.

"Good."

"You're acting like a selfish little brat!" Kenny called as the girl stormed off.

Clementine left, slamming the door behind her.

* * *

The girl was fuming as she walked along. Snow covered the road and she could barely see the street.

She didn't like people giving her shit for no reason. She just had to stand up for herself.

As she continued walking, not knowing how far away from the house she was getting, or caring how dark it was becoming.

Suddenly the girl noticed a car. It was just pulled off to the side of the road. She ignored it, walking pass.

As she made her way passed the car she glanced inside briefly. Three suspicious guys were sat inside.

Clementine tried her best to ignore them and not work herself into a panic. Her heart nearly leapt from her chest as she heard them exit the vehicle.

She tried to speed up her pace, but they were right behind her.

Before she could take off running she felt someone grab her arm.

"Let me go!" She cried.

"Where are you going sweetie?" One of the men grumbled.

"None of your business." She spat.

"What's a little thang like you doing all alone?" He asked, still holding her arm.

"Leave me alone." Clementine growled.

"Aww...Don't be like that." He tightened his grip. "Let's have some fun."

"Go fuck yourself." Clementine shot. "You're a bunch of freaks!"

Two of the men laughed, but the other one looked pissed.

He grabbed the child and slammed her to the ground, holding his gun to her face.

"Little bitch!" He yelled. "You're not going to talk to me like that!"

Clementine looked absolutely terrified. The worse part was that Kenny had snapped at her similarly only a little while ago.

He suddenly moved to stand, "Get up!"

Clementine stayed down, trembling in fear.

"I said: Get the fuck up." He yanked the child from the ground. "In the car."

Clementine hesitated.

"Want me to shoot you?" He threatened.

"Please..." Clementine whimpered, looking fearful. "Don't hurt me."

"Get in the damn car." He repeated.

Clementine did as he told, and the second the door slammed shut Clementine immediately started freaking out.

* * *

Luke didn't like that when he asked where Clementine was, Kenny's response was a nonchalant, "the hell if I know".

He didn't understand how the man could freak on them for not keeping track of the girl, but he didn't bother paying attention to where the kid had wandered off to either.

Clementine obviously wasn't in the house, Luke decided to check outside, hoping that she was exploring around the yard. He knew the kid was stressed out and Kenny didn't make things any easier for her.

He just hoped she was okay.

* * *

"If you want to live, you don't fight." The man holding the gun grumbled. "Your clothes,"

"W-What?" Clementine stammered.

"Take them off." He ordered.

The girl froze. "No..."

"What was that?" He asked.

"I don't want to."

"Wanna die, kid?" He threatened.

"Leave me alone!" Clementine shrieked.

"Shut up!" He growled, pushing the child so she was laying back. "Not so tough now, are we?" He tried to undo her jeans, but Clementine struggled hard. "Hold her arms."

"No! No, please!" The child panicked. Clementine was sure he was going to kill her. "Stop! Stop it!"

"Shut the fuck up!" He managed to unbutton her pants and tried to pull them down.

"NO!"

"Clem!"

Clementine's eyes widened. That was Luke. He had come to save her!

"Shit..." The man on top of her swore, "Drive!"

Clementine took the opportunity to start screaming loud as she could as the man in the driver's seat roughly pressed the gas.

They hadn't gotten far before gunshots rang out.

* * *

Clementine opened her clenched eyes,

The men were panicking even though Luke was clearly out numbered.

He had shot the tires out and as Clementine looked around she realized there was blood on the windshield. She looked in horror, seeing that the driver was dead.

The other two men were freaking out, saying to throw the driver out before he turned. It didn't take long however. While they were busy panicking the driver reanimated and bit the passenger.

The guy in the back seat, moved off of the little girl and threw his door open, trying to escape the car. On the outside Luke held him at gun point.

Clementine took the chance to crawl out as well, while the walker up front was still distracted with the man in the passenger seat.

"Clem!" Luke called.

"L-Luke..." Clementine whimpered.

"Get lost." Luke spat to the man, who quickly scampered away. "Clem, are you okay?"

Clementine was sobbing, unable to answer his question.

Luke pulled her into a hug. "It's okay." He hushed. "I got you."

* * *

"Where the fuck have you been?" Were the first words to leave Kenny's mouth when he saw her.

Luke came to her defense. "Back off, Kenny."

"Excuse me?!" Kenny roared.

"Just leave her alone." Luke said.

"Fuck you."

Clementine slowly exited the room, not wanting to hear them argue.

Her little chest tightened as she tried to make sense of what happen to her. What did those men plan to do?

* * *

A few days had passed and Luke was becoming concerned; Clementine didn't look good at all. She was so pale, and seemed as if she would pass out from the lightest activity.

"Clem?" He spoke gently.

"Yes?" Was the quiet response.

"Want to talk about what happened?" Luke asked.

"Nothing happened." Clementine said a bit too quickly.

"You sure?" Luke asked.

"Yes, Luke." She muttered.

"They didn't hurt you, did they?" Luke worried.

"No, Luke."

"You sure?" He asked.

"Yes, Luke..."

"Clem…" He called again.

Clementine sighed, "Yes?"

"You're bleeding?" Luke said, noticing the stains on the girl's sleeves.

Clementine paused for a moment before looking to the man. "Oh."

"Let me see-"

"No!" She panicked before forcing a smile. "I'm fine, Luke."

"You sure?"

Clementine gave a nod.

"What happened?"

"I fell." The girl was lying. Luke could tell. "Must've scraped myself."

"Oh..."

"Yeah." She said, standing and inching towards the door. "I should go clean it off."

"Let me grab you a Band-Aid." The man offered.

"That's okay, I...I don't need one." A Band-Aid wasn't going to be enough. She quickly rushed from the room, before Luke could say another word.

* * *

The girl rushed towards the bathroom, quickly slamming and locking the door behind her. She was so stupid. How could she be so clumsy with hiding her scars.

She quickly grabbed some tissue, pressing it roughly against her arm.

She glared at her reflection. The longer she stares the stronger her urge became, until she could take it no longer. She pulled the box cutter from her pocket and started slicing.

Her breathing fast as she cut deep.

"Clem?"

She flinched. Luke…

"You in there?" Luke asked.

She fought back tears, forcing herself to pocket the still bloody blade. "Yes." She responded.

"You okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine. I'll be out in a minute." She said.

"Okay. Take your time." She heard him walk away.

Clementine let out a sigh. Running water over her arms, she winced slightly as it stung.

She couldn't let them know. They'd never understand.


	15. Chapter 15

Frankly, they were all getting worried. Clementine was starting to look sicker and sicker everyday.

She didn't allow anyone to touch her and often kept to herself.

Luke tried to ask her about what had happened, but she refused to talk about it.

She wasn't getting much sleep either. Every night they'd hear her scream. She was having stress induced nightmares. Clementine would shake and scream until she woke herself.

One night however, she woke from a severely horrible nightmare. Unable to fall asleep, she wandered around the house until she found Luke, asleep on the floor in the living room.

The child tugged on his shirt to wake him.

Luke woke quickly, looking startled, seeing the child in the dark room was a bit unnerving. "Clem?"

"Y-Yes." She squeaked back.

"You crying?" Luke asked her.

"N-No."

"You sure?"

"Yes." She mumbled. "Can I sleep with you?"

"Sure, kiddo." He agreed.

Luke stayed with her for a few nights until her constant thrashing made it hard for him to find any sleep.

He then started to form a routine of telling the girl stories until she would fall asleep.

Still the nightmares would come, Clementine would fall asleep and soon after she'd start screaming until Luke woke her.

This night was no different. Clementine had started screaming and Luke shook her awake. The girl jerked away, teary eyed and when Luke tried to touch her again, she punched him.

For such a small thing, she could hit, hard.

Luke rubbed his cheek. As Clementine, now awake blinked in horror.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" She whimpered, eyes wide and terrified. "Don't leave me..."

"I'm not." Luke assured her. "It's okay, Clem. It's alright."

They were silent for a while before Luke spoke in a calm voice, "Clem,"

"Hmm?"

"Did those guys hurt you?" He asked her.

Clementine looked down. "No..."

"You sure?" He asked.

Clementine didn't respond.

"You can talk to me kid." He reassured her.

She looked hesitant, but finally opened her mouth, "They slammed me on the ground and held a gun to my head. Then they told me to get in the car..."

"Then what?" He urged her on.

"Then...Then... One of them held me down...And the other tried to..."

"Tried to what?" He asked, dreading what she would say next.

"To put his hands in my pants."

Luke felt his stomach turn. "Oh Clem..." Luke pulled her close to him.

"Luke..." She called gently.

"Yeah, kiddo?"

"Am I a bad person?" She asked in a tiny voice.

Luke's eyes grew wide at the question. "Who told you that?"

"No one...I was just wondering." She admits.

"Of course not." Luke told her.

"I wish Lee was here..." She sighed.

"I know you do..." Luke said softly.

"It's my fault. I killed him." She said.

"If I hadn't run away then...It's my fault that he died. I should be dead too."

Luke shook his head. "Don't say that, Clem."

"It's true."

"Stop it." Luke took her tiny hand in his own, giving it a squeeze, "It's not your fault."

Clementine gave a silent not, but she didn't believe him. She knew it was her fault. So many people were dead because of her and she couldn't forget it. How desperately she wanted to cut, but she couldn't do that. Not now. Not with Luke lying beside her.

She forced herself to go to sleep.

* * *

The next morning she was up, earlier than the sun rose, slicing away at her skin.

She cut herself for hitting Luke. He forgave her, but she couldn't forgive herself.

She cut herself for allowing him to lie to her. She knew she was a bad person.

She cut herself for wanting to believe that lie.

And most of all, she cut herself for getting Lee killed.

It was her fault Lee was dead and nothing could change it. Nothing could fix it.

She deserved this. She told herself. She deserved the pain.

* * *

"Clementine, I brought you some food-" Bonnie stopped as she walked into the room to find little Clementine sleeping on the bed.

The kid was letting out quiet whimpers.

Bonnie gave a sad sigh. The girl hadn't been eating lately. Bonnie wondered if she was feeling sick. She placed a hand on the girl's forehead, Clementine didn't feel warm.

Her eyes trailed down, widening as she notices scars on her arm.

Pushing up the girl's sleeve, Bonnie's eyes grew wide. Those weren't accidental, couldn't have been. She did it to herself.

The poor little girl was cutting herself. She was purposely hurting herself.

Bonnie didn't know what to do. She couldn't tell Kenny, or Luke for that matter, they'd both flip out. That would just make it worse. She'd just make sure she kept a closer eye on Clem. No one needed to know. Clementine wouldn't want them to know.

* * *

"Clementine, sweetie." Bonnie called.

"Yes?"

"I wanted to ask you something." The woman said.

"Okay..." Clementine looked a bit nervous, waiting for the woman's question.

"Did...Did you... cut yourself?" Bonnie asked.

Clementine looked surprised, how did she know? "N-No...That...That happened by accident."

"Those don't look like they happened by accident." Bonnie said.

"They did." Clementine argued.

"Look me in the eyes and tell me that you didn't cut yourself." Bonnie ordered.

Clementine didn't. "I did not."

"Clementine, don't you lie to me."

"I'm not a liar." Clementine narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. "Just leave me alone."

"Why would you do that to yourself?" Bonnie asked.

"I don't want to talk about it..." She snapped. "Leave me alone."

Bonnie sighed, leaving the room. She knew pushing the issue would just make it worse. She'd wait until Clementine was ready to talk.

"What's the problem?" Mike asked having heard yelling.

"Mike..." Bonnie bit her lip.

"Yeah?" Mike urged her on.

"If I tell you something...You have to promise not to tell Luke or Kenny." Bonnie said in a hushed tone.

"Alright." Mike agreed.

Bonnie took a deep breath and told him what she had seen.

* * *

She couldn't stop...She needed to feel the pain. It made her feel better. She knew she shouldn't, that people would be mad, but if she hid it well enough maybe no one else would find out.

Clementine felt worthless. It didn't matter if she hurt herself. She deserved it.

Clementine let out a breath before opening the bathroom door to see Luke, who greets her brightly. "Heya Clem."

"Hi."

"How you doing Clementine?"

"Fine." She mumbles, walking away before he could ask anymore questions.

Luke watch her go. He was worried about that kid. She wasn't acting like the Clementine he knew. She was so distant, barely spoke. He rarely even saw the girl out of the fort. And when he looked at her face she looked tired and pale...sick almost. He wondered if she was okay.

* * *

Clementine was lost in her own world, blood dripping to the bed, she hadn't noticed the bedroom door open until she heard a voice exclaim, "Clementine! What are you doing?!"

"Nothing." She flinched, startled.

"Why would you do that?" Bonnie demanded, pulling the knife from the child's hand and placing it on the table.

"I don't know." Clementine muttered.

"That's not an answer, Clem." Bonnie said. "Why were you hurting yourself?"

"Cause...I...I just...I don't know." Clementine looked down sadly.

"Clem," Bonnie called.

"What?" Clementine asked.

"I thought you cut yourself by accident."

Clementine's eyes widened. "I...I did."

"Really?" Bonnie asked, surprised the girl was lying straight to her face.

"Yes."

"Then what were you doing right now?" Bonnie asked.

"What do you mean?" Clementine was playing dumb now.

"With the knife, Clem."

Clementine stayed silent, looking down.

"Clem, this is ridiculous." Bonnie said, looking at the girl's bloody arm. "You can't keep doing this to yourself."

"You're going to tell on me, aren't you?" Clementine asked.

"No. I'm not gonna tell." Bonnie said.

"You aren't?" Clementine asked in shock.

"No. But you have to stop doing this, sweetie. Look what you're doing to your beautiful skin." Bonnie said.

"It's just a few scratches." Clementine shrugged.

"A few scratches?" Bonnie asked in disbelief. "Clementine those scars aren't going to go away.

"They don't bother me." The girl said.

"They should, Clem. What do you think the others would think if they saw these?"

"You said you would not tell..." The girl uttered, voice barely above a whisper.

"I'm not gonna tell, Clem. I promise." Bonnie spoke. "But you can't keep doing this to yourself. It's crazy."

"I'm sorry. Are you mad at me?" Clementine questioned.

"I'm not mad at you. Just let me take care of them cuts."

Clementine held her arm close to herself, hesitating to show the woman.

"It's alright." Bonnie said.

Clementine looked over to the woman, questionably.

"I know you don't want everyone to know. I know how that is." Bonnie said.

"Really?"

"Yeah...I have...scars too." Bonnie admit.

"You cut yourself?" Clementine asked.

"Not cut...I uh...I use to do some stuff." Bonnie replied awkwardly.

Clementine raised a confused brow, "Stuff?"

"With needles." Bonnie said.

"You stick yourself with needles?" Clementine asked in shock.

"I don't. I USED to." Bonnie corrected quickly. "It's in the past. Just like this cutting thing needs to be in the past."

"I need to cut." Clementine claimed.

Bonnie shook her head. "No. You don't need to, you want to."

"It makes me feel better." Clementine said.

"Look at this. You're bleeding, Clem. It doesn't make you feel better. It makes you hurt."

"The hurt is good for me." Clementine stated.

"I know you may think it's good, but it's bad." Bonnie told her. "And think, Clem, what if one of us needed this supplies, for a real accident?"

She knew Bonnie wasn't trying to, but her words hurt. So was she just a waste of medical supplies? "Then use it. I don't need it." Clementine replied bitterly.

"Yes you do." Bonnie argued, much to the girl's dismay. "These cuts could get infected. And we ain't got any antibiotics. You could get really sick Clementine. You don't want that to happen, do you?"

"I don't care." Clementine said.

"You could cut a vein, Clem." Bonnie stressed.

"That's fine."

Bonnie felt her heart clench and decide to reword it so the child could understand. "You could die."

"Good."

"Good?" Bonnie questioned.

"Then you guys wouldn't have to deal with me." Clementine said.

"Stop talking like that." Bonnie said, shaking her head in disbelief. "How do you think Kenny would feel if he heard you say something like that?"

"He wouldn't feel anything. He probably wants me to die." Clementine replied.

"Of course he doesn't. And what about Luke? What would he say if he heard you talking like that?" Bonnie asked.

"I don't know." Clementine lowered her head.

"Nobody wants you dead Clem." Bonnie assured.

"I do." Was the child's response.

"What is wrong with you?!" Bonnie raised her voice, causing the child to flinch. "Why are you acting this way?" She asked.

Clementine remained silent.

"How do you think we'd all feel if you died?" Bonnie continued.

"You can cry...or you can laugh." Clem gave a shrug.

"Who would laugh about that?" Bonnie asked.

"Kenny." The girl insisted.

"No. He wouldn't Clem." Bonnie spoke firmly. "He cares about you."

"He's rude to me. And now he's ignoring me." Clementine replied.

"He's...He doesn't mean it, Clem." Bonnie said with a sigh. "He doesn't."

"Then why...he's supposed to be my friend." The little girl was holding back tears at this point.

"He's just looking out for you, Clem." Bonnie said. "It's not always easy to protect the people you love, and keep them happy at the same time."

"That's why...I just keep thinking...maybe if I wasn't around, things would be better." Clementine muttered.

"Why do you think that?"

"Maybe...no one else would have to die."

Bonnie looked into the young girl's face. The child looked tired. She looked completely broken. Bonnie didn't know what to say. Instead she pulled the girl into a hug.

* * *

When Luke walked into the bedroom, the last thing he expected to find was Clementine, holding a bloody knife to her arm.

"Woah, Clem. What the fuck? Put the knife down."

Clementine didn't respond. She silently stared down at the knife.

"Clementine, give me the knife." He held out his hand to her.

She shook her head, still looking at the knife, "I can't."

"Clem-" He stopped as she looked over to him, meeting his eyes.

Luke's eyes widened. The girl had a strange look in her eyes, like she was debating whether she should cut herself or end it all.

Luke spoke, gently, "Just give me the knife."

Clementine shook her head, "No. I just want to cut...Just until the pain is gone."

"You... You don't have to do that, Clem." Luke kept his soft tone.

"Yes I do." Clementine said.

"The pain won't go away if you cut. It will only hurt more." Luke told her.

Clementine sighed. "I have to hurt to make it go away.

"Fine. Hurt me." Luke said, and held out his wrist to her.

Her face saddened. "What?" She asked, completely taken-aback.

"If you wanna cut so badly, cut me." Luke said.

"I don't want to." Clementine whispered, shaking her head.

"Why not?" Luke questioned.

"I don't want to hurt you." Clementine said.

"I know." Luke said. "But I don't want you to hurt yourself either."

"I'm sorry, Luke." Clementine mumbled. "I have to."

"No, you don't." Luke pleaded, "Give me the knife, Clem."

"No!"

"Clem-"

"S-Stay back!" She cried, pointing the knife at him.

"Clem, I just wanna help-"

"N-NO!" She shouted at him. She began to shake. "Just...Just leave me be."

"Clementine, please," Luke began again. "I'm begging you." He held out his hand. "Give me the knife."

"No!" Clementine shook her head.

Luke was starting to think that giving her the box-cutter wasn't the best choice.

"You hate me, don't you?" She asked.

"Huh?"

"I know you do. It's okay. I hate myself too..." Clementine said. "I can't do anything right!" She lowered her head, sadly.

"That's not true, Clem. Just-" He took a step towards her, but the girl moved back.

"Stop!" Clementine screamed. "Get away!"

"I...I just wanna help you!" Luke said, slowly walking towards her. "Please, just let me-"

"Stay back!" Clementine cried again, swinging the knife at him.

Luke didn't listen. He knew she wouldn't hurt him.

"I said, STAY BACK!" Clementine shouted.

"It's gonna be okay, Clem." Luke promised.

"No it's not. Don't lie to me." Clementine looked away.

"I'm not lying. Everything's gonna be okay." Luke said, grabbing the girl and pulling her into a hug. "It's alright." He hushed as she sobbed in his arms. He moved slowly, pulling the knife from her hand as he held her. He threw it across the room so Clementine couldn't get hold of it again.

"Don't cry, Clem." He slowly rubbing her back, trying to calm her down.

"L-Luke..."

"Shh..."

"I-I'm s-sorry, Luke..." She whimpered, wrapping her arms around him. "I'm so sorry..."

"It's okay." Luke pulled her closer as she trembled. "Here, let me fix that cut up." He reached for her arm, but she pulled it closer to her chest.

"Don't." She spoke, jerking away. "Don't tell anyone." She begged. "Kenny...Kenny will hate me even more."

"He doesn't hate you. Clem." Luke replied. "He doesn't."

"Then he will. If he doesn't already he will." Clementine said sadly.

"No, he won't." Luke told her.

"Please don't tell. Please?" Clementine begged.

"Okay...I won't." Luke agreed. "But you have to promise to never do this again."

"Do what?" Clementine asked.

"Cut. Never again." Luke said, sternly.

"I promise." Clementine said.

"Good." Luke voiced, "Can I see your arm?"

Clementine shook her head.

"Clem."

"You're going to be angry with me." Clementine pulled back a bit.

"No. No, I'm not." Luke said.

"Promise?" Clementine asked.

"Yes, Clem. I promise."

The little girl hesitated, looking nervous. "It's only a little scratch."

"Just let me see it." Luke replied. "I won't get upset."

It took a moment, but Clementine eventually pulled up her sleeve and showed him her arm.

"Jesus, Clem." He sucked in a breath. "How long have you been doing this?

"Only...Only a few days." Clementine responded.

"Why would you-"

"I didn't mean to." She cut him off. "I just needed to be punished."

"For what?"

"For getting people killed. And...And for being a brat. And for making Kenny hate me." She spoke.

"He doesn't hate you. And nothing is your fault. Stop being so hard on yourself!" Luke hated seeing her like this. The poor kid was hurting and the fact that Kenny was ignoring her wasn't making it any better.

"You're mad at me." She said, accusingly, yanking her arm away. "You said you wouldn't be."

"It's okay. It's okay. I'm not mad." Luke hushed, trying to calm himself down.

"You're not?"

"No. I'm not." He assured. "But I do have to fix your arm up, okay?"

Clementine hesitated, she didn't want him to waste supplies on her, but she knew he was waiting for an answer. "...Okay."

Luke sat her down on the floor. "Stay here. I'm going to get something to clean those cuts up."

Clementine gave a nod, wiping her tears away as Luke left the room.

Pulling her knees to her chest, she looked across the room to where he threw the knife. Why had he stopped her. She could've seen her parents again. And Lee. She felt a hatred in her heart. Luke should have just let her finish it.

"Alright. Let me see that arm." Luke motioned her over.

Clementine was silent. She didn't move from her spot on the floor. Her face was completely emotionless as she stared at the knife.

Luke sat down beside her and pulled her into his lap. He quickly went to work on her arm.

"There we go. All finished." He offered the child a small smile which she didn't return.

"Why'd you stop me?" Clementine asked gently.

"Because, nobody wants you to do that, kid." Luke replied.

"Stop lying." She sniffed. "I know what you guys were talking about."

"What?"

"In the car. When you and Jane were talking. I could hear you. I heard everything. I thought I was dreaming, but I know now I wasn't." The girl sad.

Luke didn't know what to say, he just pulled her closer.

"I asked Jane, if I got hurt or something would she abandon me. She told me no. But she lied, because she wanted to." Clementine continued, "Everyone wants me dead," she whimpered.

"Hey, hey," Luke cupped her chin and pulled her face up to meet his gaze. "That's not true. No one wants you dead, Clem." Luke said. "Don't go saying things like that."

"Yes they do." She said. "You probably want me gone too."

"She didn't mean it, Clem! She was just...scared. She didn't know if you were gonna make it. She was worried."

"No. She was tired of me. Just like Kenny is." She replied. "So just...let me go!"

She took him by surprise, as she attempted to jerk away from him. The fight was back in her eyes as she struggled to get him to let her go.

"Clem, stop it." He tightened his grip on her.

"Let me go!"

"It's okay." He pulled her closer.

"Luke..." She whined, burying her face in his shoulder.

It was hard to watch the girl break like that. Luke didn't know what to do, other than hold her and let her cry.

* * *

"Hey, Bonnie. Have you seen my machete?" Luke questioned, he had been looking for it all day.

"No. You lost it?" Bonnie asked.

"I don't think so." Luke sighed.

"Huh?"

"I think Clem might've taken it." He stated.

"Clem?"

Luke nodded, "Yeah."

"Why would she?" Bonnie questioned quickly.

"...She's been cutting herself." Luke told her in a voice just above a whisper.

"You know about that?" Bonnie was surprised.

"You know?" Luke asked back equally shocked.

"Yeah...I've seen the scars." Bonnie explained.

"I actually walked in on her doing it. I thought she was gonna kill herself." Luke said sadly.

"It's gotten that bad...?" Bonnie asked.

"She told me she needed to cut..." Luke replied.

"Told me that too."

"Any idea where she is?" Luke wondered.

"I think she went upstairs." Bonnie sighed.

"Mind helping me talk to her?" Luke asked.

"Yeah. Alright."

The two of them made their way up the stairs and checked the room, when they came to the only door that was shut, Luke gave a knock.

"Hey, Clem. You in here." Luke called.

There was no response, but Luke almost swore he heard a light humming from the room.

"Clem?"

Still nothing.

Bonnie and Luke exchanged glances before Luke opened the door.

"Go away." Clementine mumbled.

The little girl was sitting with her back to the door, on the bed that she had found the man on.

"Clementine, you're not supposed to be in here. You know that." Luke said gently.

"Go away." The child repeated, sounding tired.

"Clementine, give me the machete." Luke pleaded.

"Get out." The girl demanded.

Luke ignored her walking around to look at her face.

"Clem..." He reached for the machete. "Please just give me the-"

"No!" Clementine cried, yanking the knife to herself.

Luke kept his voice calm, "Clem, it's okay. Just-"

"Leave me alone. It's mine."

"Hey, Clem." Bonnie called, approaching the duo. "We just wanna help you, sweetie."

"I don't want your help." Clementine shook her head. "I just want to..." She trailed off, bringing the machete closer to her wrist.

"Clem!" Luke called, drawing her attention back to them. "Everything's gonna be alright."

"Don't lie to me." The girl spoke quietly, closing her eyes tight.

"I'm not Clem. I promise you, everything will be alright."

"Liar...You're a liar." She mumbled, keeping her eyes shut and shaking her little head.

"Clem," Bonnie spoke, pulling the girl's teary gaze to herself. "Your mommy and daddy wouldn't want you to do that to yourself."

The girl said nothing, but they heard her let out a small sniff.

Luke wondered if Bonnie's words were getting through to the child and he quickly spoke. "What about Lee?" Luke added. He didn't know much about the man, but he knew enough to know the guy had a huge impact on Clem. "You think he died just for you to kill yourself?"

That was all it took for tears to fall, the girl dropped Luke's machete before tossing herself into his arms.

"L-Luke..."

"Hey...Don't cry kiddo." He patted her back soothingly.

"I'm sorry..." Clementine whimpered.

"It's okay Clem. It's okay."

* * *

Luke collapsed on the couch, feeling exhausted. He had constantly been keeping an eye on Clementine, making sure she didn't hurt herself. It was definitely a hard job.

"How is she?" Jane suddenly asked.

Luke sent her a confused look. "Hmm?"

"Clementine." Jane said. "Heard her crying. What happened?"

"She...She's just upset." Luke said.

"Obviously." Jane rolled her eyes.

"She's been cutting herself." Luke mumbled.

Jane's eyes widened, "You're serious?"

"Yeah." Luke said. "It's gotten pretty bad."

"This is Kenny's fault." Jane grumbled.

"What?"

"He's too hard on her." Jane said.

"He's trying to protect her." Luke sighed.

"And he's failing miserably..."

Luke didn't reply.

"We could go." Jane spoke,

"This again?" Luke sent her a strange look.

"I'm serious." Jane said. "The truck's outside. We could grab Clem and leave."

"We can't do that Jane." Luke protested.

"We can."

"You didn't want to take her before." Luke reminded.

"But she's fine now. And Clem can make her own decisions. If she wanted to go-"

"Her own decisions? In this condition?" Luke shook his head in disbelief.

"Then you make it for her. You said you'd take care of her." Jane said.

"I am taking care of her." Luke responded.

"She's not safe around Kenny."

"What do you mean?" Luke asked.

"Look," Jane sighed, "I know he's her friend, but look what he caused."

"She's not gonna leave him." Luke said. "You know that Jane."

"I never said she had to be willing. We could just pick her up and drive off." Jane replied.

"That's kidnap." Luke huffed.

"It would be for her own good. She'd be safe with us." Jane stated.

"For how long? She wants to die, Jane." Luke sighed.

"She's strong. She'll pull out of it." Jane said. "Sarah and Jamie couldn't, but Clementine's different."

"She'd hate us."

"She'll get over it eventually." Jane replied.

Luke sent the woman a look, "And Kenny's not going to just let us take off. Not with the kid and the truck."

"Kenny doesn't have to know." Jane spoke. "Just think about it, okay?"

"There's nothing to think about. I'm not doing that, Jane." Luke grumbled.

"Why not?"

"Because...She's safe here." Luke said. "We can't just move her. She needs to be around people who care about her."

"That would be us."

"Everyone cares about her." Luke sighed. "They just have bad ways of showing it."

"Kenny?" Jane asked.

"And you." Luke said.

"What are you trying to say?" Jane sounded almost offended.

"She heard what you said in the car." Luke explained.

Jane looked shocked, "What?"

"Yeah. She heard that." Luke said.

"Shit." Jane swore gently.

Luke continued. "She thinks we're tired of her."

"What do we do?"

"I told her we're not. The thing with Kenny is hurting her." Luke said, "Poor kid has been through a lot."

"What should we do?"

"She needs all the support she can get." Luke replied. "And she needs Kenny."

* * *

"Clementine," Bonnie called to the girl, who looked at her. "Can you heat AJ's bottle for me?"

"Yeah. Sure." Clementine took the bottle in her hand.

"What the hell is that?" Kenny suddenly asked.

"W-What?" Clementine stammered.

"You're bleeding..." Kenny said.

Clementine looked down, noticing her sleeve had rolled up, she quickly tugged it down. "It's nothing." The girl tried to walk pass him towards the kitchen, but he quickly grabbed her.

"What do you mean nothing? Let me see it." Kenny yanked her sleeve up, and stared in horror, all the scars visible for him to see. "You look like an animal clawed you. What the fuck happened?"

"Leave me alone." Clementine tried to pull away.

"Let me see them, Clem." He snapped, not letting her go. "How'd you get these?"

"I..."

"You cut yourself?" Kenny asked.

"I...I-"

"Why the fuck would you do this to yourself?" He demanded.

"I don't know." Clementine whispered.

"You don't know?" Kenny asked back.

"No..."

"You're crazy." Kenny said, letting her go. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

Clementine only looked away.

"I can't believe you do something like this."

She wouldn't tell him how much his words hurt.

* * *

"I don't understand...She's mutilating her arm, on purpose." Kenny grumbled.

The group had gathered around the table the next morning to discuss Clementine's injuries and what to do about them.

"We gotta think that maybe something's wrong here..." Bonnie said.

"She's got a loose screw in her head. That's what's wrong." Kenny snapped.

"She's not stupid." Luke shot Kenny a glare, "She's doing it for a reason."

"What's the reason?" Kenny asked quickly.

"I...I don't know." Luke admit. "She thinks she should be punished."

"Maybe someone should try to talk to her." Mike suggested.

"We've tried. It doesn't work." Bonnie said.

"Well, what are we going to do?" Mike spoke. "We can't just let her hurt herself."

"This is the whole reason I didn't want her to have the boxcutter." Kenny suddenly said.

"How was I supposed to know she was going to use it to hurt herself?" Luke demanded.

"What did you expect her to do with a sharp object?" Kenny asked.

"Use it to defend herself." Luke offered. "Besides, she doesn't even have it anymore."

"Shouldn't of had it in the first place!" Kenny snapped.

"Guys, this isn't helping." Bonnie said. "Let's not fight."

"I can't believe she'd do this. She's so ungrateful." Kenny said.

Bonnie sighed, "Pointing fingers is not getting us anywhere and neither is belittling that child and calling her ungrateful-"

"She is." Kenny cut her off.

"She is not!" Luke exclaimed, "How dare you."

All the yelling had grabbed Clementine's interest and Kenny and Luke were too caught up in their argument to notice Clementine's arrival until the child spoke, "What's going on?"

"Oh...Hey, Clem..." Luke quickly said.

"What is it?" Clementine asked.

Bonnie smiled at the child, "N-Nothing. We were just-"

"Clementine," Kenny called firmly.

"Yes?" Clementine looked him straight in the eye.

"I don't ever want to see you bringing a knife to your skin again." Kenny said. "Got it?"

Jane who had been silent up until then rolled her eyes, "That's definitely going to work."

"Okay..." Clementine nodded.

"What?" Mike asked in surprise.

"Okay." Clementine repeated.

"Good." Kenny smiled to the others, like a spoiled child who had proven themselves to be right.

* * *

After that Luke figured Clementine and Kenny's relationship would go back to normal, but that wasn't the case. In fact the complete opposite happened, they drifted further apart. Luke could tell Clementine was hurting.

"What do you want?!" Clementine demanded as the cover to her fort moved, alerting her that someone was there.

"Sorry. I was just checking on you..." Luke apologized. "I'll leave you alone."

"No..." Clementine shook her head. "I...I'm sorry, Luke."

"It's alright Clem." Luke offered her a small smile.

"Are you gonna come in?" Clementine asked.

"If the princess allows it." Luke said, hoping to get a grin out of the kid. It didn't work.

"If you want to." Clementine replied, waiting for Luke to enter her fort. "Luke..."

"What's up, princess?"

"I don't want you to hate me too." Clementine whispered.

"Never. I'd never hate you." Luke responded.

 _He does. He's just too nice to admit it._

Clementine bit her lip trying to ignore the voice. "Kenny hates me..."

"No, he doesn't." Luke reassured her.

"Yes, he does." Clementine said.

"He doesn't Clem. He was just upset." Luke told her.

"He keeps ignoring me." Clementine whimpered. "He won't even look at me."

"Ignore him, Clem." Luke sighed.

"My feelings are hurt." Clementine admit.

"I know. I know they are, but what he's doing right now...this is his game." Luke explained.

"Well, I don't want to play it." Clementine muttered.

"You can't let him hurt you. You're better than that." Luke said.

Clementine only shook her head. "I'm not."

"You are. Kenny just wants his way or the highway. You know that, right?"

Clementine gave a tiny nod.

"That's not how he should treat people." Luke said.

"I know..." Clementine whispered.

"Do you want me to talk to him?" Luke asked her.

"No...He'll just get defensive..." Clementine spoke gently. "I don't want you guys to fight."

"Why don't you try talking to him?" Luke offered.

Clementine huffed, "Why should I have to be the one to talk to him first. He's the one who started this. He should be apologizing."

"But you could be the bigger person." Luke stated.

"I already am." Clementine said.

"Actions speak louder than words." Luke replied.

"Yeah. And Kenny's actions sure spoke louder than any words ever could." The girl said.

Luke didn't know what to say to that. Maybe he should talk to Kenny. He just had to get those two to make up.


	16. Chapter 16

_**Today's my birthday, at least it's today where I'm at!**_

 ** _I'm hoping you guys enjoy this chapter. Read and Review!_**

* * *

The room was quiet. Not a comfortable quiet. It was an awkward quiet full of tension.

Luke looked to Kenny, who was holding baby AJ, and let out a sigh. "Have you made up with Clementine yet?"

"Nope. Kid won't even talk to me." Kenny said.

"She's just upset." Luke replied.

"I know. And if she don't want to talk to me, I'm not going to talk to her." Kenny stated.

Luke narrowed his eyes, at Kenny's childlike decision. That was exactly what Clementine had been doing. She's the child, she shouldn't have to reach out to him.

"I really don't know what her problem is." Kenny huffed.

She thinks you hate her. Is what Luke wanted to say, but he kept it to himself.

"Kids act out for attention. She lost a lot of people." Bonnie spoke up. "Maybe she's afraid of losing you and she doesn't know how to express her feelings?"

Kenny wondered if that was true. He felt bad for what he had said to the girl, but he wasn't going to force her to be around him if she didn't want to, and he wasn't going to apologize just to be ignored.

He didn't know what to do.

* * *

"Why are you doing this, Clem?" Bonnie asked as she looked at the new cuts on that covered the girl's arms and legs.

"I don't know." Clementine muttered.

"What did you use?" Bonnie questioned.

"Screwdriver…"

"Seriously." Bonnie let out a sigh. "Alright, put your clothes on and let's get to bed."

Clementine slipped her clothes back on, then laid down silently staring up at the ceiling, "Are you mad?"

"It's hard not to be when I see what you're doing to yourself." Bonnie replied.

"I'm sorry." Clementine mumbled.

Bonnie looked to the child. "If you need to talk to us you can." Bonnie told her, "You know that, right?"

Clementine didn't reply.

"Alright, sweetie." Bonnie laid on the bed. "Goodnight."

* * *

"I found two more, last night." Bonnie said to the group as they gathered around the table. "New ones…. I don't know what to do."

"Neither do I." Luke sighed.

"I'm going crazy, one day she's going to cut too deep, and it'll be the last time."

"Stop." Luke said. "It won't come to that. We won't let it."

"Look at what she's doing!" Bonnie exclaimed.

"I see it!" Luke snapped back.

"Well then do something about it! I'm at my wits ends." Bonnie said.

"What can we do, Bonnie?" Mike spoke up.

"I don't know, but Luke and I… We can't be the only two dealing with this. We're a group. Act like one." Bonnie huffed before walking away.

Everyone went silent.

Luke let out a sigh, "I'm going to talk to Clem." He announced before walking into the next room to find the girl stationed on the couch.

He took a seat beside her, "Clem. Hey…"

"You're fighting because of me…" Clementine said softly.

Luke quickly shook his head trying to protest.

Clementine spoke before he could, "I know you are."

"It's not your fault, Clementine." Luke said. "Everything is just so…stressful."

"Because of me?" Clementine asked.

"No, Clem." Luke decided to stop talking about this. "How about some breakfast, kiddo?"

Clementine wasn't hungry, but she knew Luke would force her to eat. "…Okay."

* * *

"Not hungry?" Mike asked the little girl, noticing her untouched food.

Clementine glanced at him. "No…"

"Uh-uh. You don't have a choice." Luke cut in. "Eat something."

Clementine tried to protest, "But Luke-"

"You're not starving yourself too. I'm not going to let that happen." Luke said, cutting her off. "Eat."

"I'm not hungry." Clementine said.

"Then sit there until that plate is clean." Luke replied.

"You're not my dad!"

"No, but I care about you, Clem." Luke told her.

"There's nothing to worry about." Clementine said. "It's not a big deal."

"It is a big deal!" Luke exclaimed.

"Why are you mad?!" Clementine demanded.

"You're slowly killing yourself and you're telling me there's nothing to worry about…" Luke shook his head in disbelief.

"You don't understand!" Clementine yelled. "I don't want to do this anymore! Leave me alone!"

"Clem-"

"NO! I can't do this! I can't take it ANYMORE!" The girl screamed before bursting into tears.

Luke and Mike watched worriedly as the girl cried. Luke reached out to pull the child into a hug but the girl screamed, "DON'T TOUCH ME!"

"Please…Don't touch me." Clementine whimpered. "I want to go…I want to go…I need to go…Please."

* * *

"That's an old one?" Luke asked, motioning to one of the cuts on Clementine's arm.

"Yes…" Clementine said.

"Alright." Luke nodded. "We're good tonight."

Clementine started to fix her clothes before laying on the bed.

"Clementine, I need to talk to you..." Luke started.

"Is it bad?" Clementine asked.

"No kiddo." Luke sat beside her. "We need to address a situation."

"I haven't cut! I promise!" The girl exclaimed.

"I know you haven't." He knew because him and Bonnie switched off nights, staying in the room with her and checking her for injuries before bed. "It's not about that."

"Then what is it?" Clementine asked.

Luke paused for a moment before speaking, "Do you wanna leave?"

"I... Where would we go?" Clementine asked, furrowing her brow.

"I don't know." Luke said honestly.

"Maybe if I knew where we were going." Clementine replied, remembering having a similar conversation with Lee. "It seems like everytime we mention leaving there's a huge debate over if we're going to Wellington or somewhere else. I'm tired of the fighting." Clementine sighed.

"So am I..." Luke agreed. "But...I meant did you want to leave...just us?"

"I...I don't know." Clementine said. "What about the others? What would they think?"

"Clem, you can't worry about what other people think. If we go you're never going to see those people again so it doesn't matter." Luke replied.

"I know..." The girl started, "I just don't know what to do..."

"Just think about it, okay."

Clementine nodded.

Luke pulled the blanket over the child, "Get some sleep."

* * *

Luke couldn't sleep. It was hard. Clementine was just getting worse and worse. He didn't know what to do.

A knock at the door pulled him from his thoughts.

"Come in." He called.

The door opened slowly and he looked over to see Jane. "Hey." The woman greeted. "Are you okay?"

"I guess so." Luke replied. "Jane…."

"Yeah?"

"I talked to Clem...About leaving." Luke said.

"Well?" Jane urged him to continue.

Luke sighed. "Her reaction was mixed...She doesn't know what she wants."

"She'll probably decide soon. I don't think she can take much more of being here." Jane said.

* * *

She couldn't take it. It had been a whole day...She needed to cut. She needed to. If only she could find, where Luke put that knife.

She looked everywhere. It was nowhere to be found.

As she stood in the backyard she started, looking around.

"What are you looking for Clem?" Mike asked, startling the young girl.

"A stick." She replied.

Mike decided to help her out. "How's this."

She examined it, trying to see how sharp it was. "That might work."

"Making something?" Mike questioned.

"...None of your business..." Clementine responded.

"Sorry. I was just wondering." Mike raised his hands, taking a step back. "You don't have to snap at me."

 _He hates you too._

Clementine didn't respond.

"Hey," Mike knelt down in front of her. "You're not gonna do anything...dangerous, right?"

Clementine shot him a look. "No. What would I be doing dangerous?"

"You know… No hurting yourself." Mike said.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Clementine said quickly.

"Then let me see your arm." Mike said.

 _Don't. He doesn't care. He just wants to call you crazy._

"No." Clementine took a step back. "She's lying. There are no cuts."

"I just want you to know...You can talk to us, Clem." Mike said.

 _That's what they say, but it's a lie._

"I...I know." Clementine replied. He said that, but they never listened to her before, there was nothing to talk about now.

"I'll leave you alone." Mike sighed, before walking away.

Just one cut. That's all she needed, she told herself. Scraping the stick roughly across her arm. After that one, she wasn't satisfied, and she continued to drag the stick across her arm, all while telling herself she just needed 'one more'.

* * *

"Where'd you get these?" Bonnie asked. "How'd you do it this time?"

"With a stick." Clementine whispered.

"God, Clementine!" Bonnie cried. "What is wrong with you?!"

"N-Nothing's wrong!" Clementine shot back. "I just want to cut! I have to!"

"Why are you doing this to yourself?!" Bonnie yelled at her.

"I HAVE TO!" Clementine screamed, "I need to cut!"

"No, you don't. Stop this, right now!" Bonnie snapped at the child.

"Leave me alone. Just go away!" Clementine turned away.

Bonnie stormed out of the room, nearly bumping into Kenny.

"Get it now?" The man asked.

"What?" Bonnie questioned in confusion.

"She's frustrating, ain't she?" Kenny asked.

"She needs help…" Bonnie said. "She…She just…" She trailed off. "God…."

* * *

"Nobody understands me…" Clementine mumbled from her fort.

"Maybe I could, if you try to let me." Luke said to her in a calm voice.

"You wouldn't be able to." Clementine shook her head. "You think I'm crazy, don't you?"

"No, Clem."

"Kenny thinks I am." Clementine said.

"It doesn't matter what he thinks." Luke replied.

"It does… It matters to me." Clementine sighed sadly.

"It shouldn't." Luke told her.

"See… That's why you'll never understand me."

"I'm trying to Clementine. Let me understand." Luke pleaded.

"You can't." The girl looked away. "Everything is so terrible. It hurts…"

* * *

Luke did his best to take care of Clementine, making sure she ate and doing his best to keep her from cutting. It was definitely proving to be a difficult task.

"I'm not very hungry." Clementine said as the man place a plate in front of her.

"I know. You're never very hungry, but I'd very much appreciate it if you ate some food." Luke replied. "Just a little bit."

Kenny entered the room and took a seat at the table. Clementine glanced up at him, but said nothing.

Luke looked to the man, feeling anger bubbling in his stomach, "If you want to pretend that kid doesn't exist, fine by me, but I think you're stupid." He couldn't stop himself from saying that.

Kenny shot him a glare. "I'm not pretending she doesn't exist."

"You won't even look at her when she walks in the room." Luke said. "You're acting like a child."

"She's ignoring me." Kenny replied.

"She's eleven!" Luke snapped. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Ain't nothing wrong?" Kenny defended.

"There clearly is when you're hurting her like that." Luke growled.

"Will you please stop?" Clementine begged. "Please, stop!"

"I'm not the problem." Kenny continued to speak, ignoring Clementine's pleas. "The problem is, we have a child who is going crazy and mutilating her own body."

"I don't do it anymore." Clementine claimed.

"You don't or you're not?" Kenny asked her.

"I'm not going to!" Clementine said.

"You say that now, but tomorrow, there's going to be ten new cuts." Kenny replied.

"She's trying to stop, okay?!" Luke snapped; Kenny had no room to talk, the man hadn't spent day checking her or helping keep her from hurting herself.

"Then she should stop! Not try." Kenny snapped. "Why are you talking for her anyway? She has a voice. Let her speak up herself."

"She's scared of you!" Luke said.

"Stop fighting!" Clementine covered her ears, rocking herself back and forth as the two men continued to bicker, her voice going unheard. "Please…"

* * *

Clementine was hurting, anyone could see that. Why; Kenny didn't know, but he was going to get to the bottom of her behavior.

The next day while the girl was alone, he took the opportunity to speak with her. "What's your problem, Clem?"

"What?" Clementine was confused. She raised a brow.

"You storm out the other day and now you're acting all moody." Kenny said. "What's the problem?"

"Nothing..."

Kenny scoffed, "So this is all for nothing?"

Clementine didn't respond.

Kenny watched the child for a moment before speaking, "...I feel like you're over-dramatic."

"How?" Clementine asked.

"None of this is necessary. You never cry. So why do it now?" Kenny asked.

Clementine looked surprised, "Can't I? I'm still a person! I still have feelings!"

"You can't be a baby. We already have one." Kenny said.

"This is why…" Clementine muttered before stopping.

"What?"

"This is why…." The child trailed off. "Everything is hard. I can't do this anymore."

"So you start cutting yourself and acting like a two-year-old?" Kenny grumbled, "You're eleven years old, you should be embarrassed that you let all of them watch you cry."

Clementine looked away.

"Help me understand, Clem." Kenny said.

"What is there to understand?" The girl asked back.

"Why are you doing this?" Kenny asked her.

"Doing what?"

"Treating me this way. You know they don't like me and yet you decide to turn them against me more?"

Clementine shook her head. "No."

"Yes."

"Do you know all the things I've done for you? What Lee's done for you? It should matter." Kenny said.

Clementine sighed, "It does."

"You don't act like it. You're taking the relationship you've had with me and you're shitting all over it. You're shitting all over me." Kenny said.

"I don't feel that way." Clementine mumbled.

"I do."

"Well that's your opinion, and you're entitled to that, but-"

Kenny stopped her, "I'm also entitled to being right. While you're wrong.

"It's not about you!" Clementine snapped. "Everything is NOT you!"

Kenny flinched.

"It's always about everyone else. When do I get to feel sad? When do I not have to pretend?" The girl was biting her lip, fighting back tears. "I CAN'T DO IT ANYMORE! You don't understand! No one understands! You don't know who I am, and you never will!"

"I'm done speaking with you." Kenny huffed.

"Fine." Clementine spoke sadly.

"If you wanna be a brat, be a brat." Kenny said causing Clementine to look away once again. "But you need to realize all I've done for you. Those people, they're playing games with you. They don't really care."

Clementine bit her lip.

"They don't care. They play you like a violin. They don't care about you, don't care about anything but themselves." Kenny said.

"They do care." Clementine whispered.

"Really?" Kenny asked, "When we were fighting walkers and Luke and Jane were on the deck, it didn't look like they cared." He placed a hand on the child's shoulder making her look to him. "They don't care, Clem. I care."

Clementine swallowed.

"Don't be stupid."

* * *

"Clem..." Luke lightly touched the girl's arm, stopping her from digging her nails into her skin. "What happened?" He asked the child.

"Nothing." Clementine sniffed.

"Clementine, you're crying." Luke said.

"No, I'm not." The girl whimpered. "Don't say anything."

"I just want to help." He placed a hand on her shoulder, pulling her close. "What's wrong?" He asked.

Clementine just whimpered more.

"What's the matter?" Luke questioned worried.

Clementine sniffed before turning to him...

* * *

"You told her we don't care about her?!" Luke snapped at Kenny.

"'Cause you don't. You don't care about her?" Kenny responded.

Bonnie took it upon herself to keep the children in the other room, but they could still hear Luke and Kenny argue back and forth. "It's all right, Clem…" She whispered to the child, who was whimpering.

"You know what? Fuck you!" Kenny yelled.

"Fuck you too!" Luke shot back.

After that yell, Luke soon entered the room. "How is she?"

"She's okay... I didn't want her to see you two fighting." Bonnie said, rubbing over the child's back with one hand and holding Aj with the other. "We need to come together not pull apart."

"I shouldn't have told you..." Clementine said.

"Yes you should have, Clem." Luke replied. "He's not going to treat you like that. I won't allow it."

"We need to figure something out because this is a mess." Bonnie sighed.

Luke sat down beside them. "A big fucking mess." He agreed.

Clementine was breaking, everyone could see it. Kenny was speaking to her again, but it would only be to scold her or belittle the girl.

It was hurting her more and more each day. Luke was sick of having to comfort an eleven year old child all the time because a grown man was bullying her. He wanted to say something to Kenny, but Clementine continuously begged him not to.

* * *

"This is why we need to leave. Do you see what he does to her?" Jane said, motioning to the girl who was crying in Luke's arms.

"I like it here...It's just Kenny..." The girl buried her face into Luke's shoulder.

"You don't like him?" Jane asked.

"I do... I don't like him yelling at me." Clementine said.

"If we go, he won't be able to yell at you, Clem." Luke told her.

"I know... but I don't want to go." Clementine sniffled. "It's not just him…"

"Then what is it?" Luke asked.

"It's everything. It's everyone." Clementine whimpered. "I need to go to the bathroom."

"Okay..." Luke nodded, releasing the child.

Clementine silently slipped from the room, wiping her tear-stained cheeks.

The girl stood in the bathroom, digging her nails into her arms until she bled. She never felt it... It wasn't enough.

She started to scratch at her healing wounds, reopening them, letting herself bleed.

Her breathing picked up as she desperately scratched at her skin. She needed to hurt! She needed to feel the pain.

She was in there a good amount of time before she heard frantic footstep racing down the hall, "Clem!" Luke's voice came to her ears. "Clem, what are you doing in there?" He pushed the door, which opened.

Jane's eyes widened. "Oh my God."

"What did you do?!" Luke panicked, grabbing the child and restraining her.

Clementine didn't respond. She only watched with an emotionless look as blood dripped from her arm to the cold tile floor.


	17. Chapter 17

"She's scratching now. It's crazy..." Luke buried his face into his hands, a heavy sigh escaping him.

"What do we do about it?" Bonnie asked, rubbing a hand through her hair.

"Stop talking like I'm not here." Clementine spat.

"Why are you hurting yourself?" Bonnie asked her.

"Why can't I?! You stuck yourself with needles! Why can't I cut?!" Clementine demanded angrily.

Luke looked surprised, "Bonnie...What?"

Bonnie avoided his gaze, "That's not important! It's in the past." Bonnie said, before looking to Clementine with a sigh.

Luke looked between the two with a mask of anguish.

"Clementine, you have to stop this. You're going to really hurt yourself." Bonnie said.

"I don't care. It's my life!" Clementine replied. "Just mind your business."

"We can't Clem. We care about you." Luke said.

They didn't. _It was a game. They didn't care about her. Nobody cared._

Clementine didn't respond, but Luke noticed her little body starting to tremble, her hands clenched.

"Clem…" He stood and walked towards the shaking child. "It's okay." He pulled her into a hug, but the girl didn't react. She was a blank slate. Emotionless.

Luke felt his heart breaking.

* * *

Clementine hated it. As soon as she entered a room the adults would go quiet. They'd just watch her. They talked about her behind her back. She could hear their hush hush whispers through the paper thin walls.

It was the same today. As she entered the room she could her the adults talking about her but, Luke changed the subject as she approached.

She felt so alone. She couldn't take it anymore.

"How are you, Clem?" Bonnie asked.

Clementine put on a fake smile. Trying not to think horrible thoughts. _'They think I'm crazy'_ "I'm okay." She said.

"That's good." Bonnie returned her smile with one of her own.

"Right." Clementine sighed.

"You hungry?" Luke asked her.

Clementine shook her head. "No."

Luke sent her a look, "You should eat-"

"I said no!" Clementine snapped. "I'm going to bed!" She stormed away, despite not having been in the room long. Her legs almost too weak to move.

She ran straight for the bathroom.

Pain. She needed to feel pain to make her forget.

She used her fingernails to dig into her skin, not stopping until she started to bleed. After a while she let out a sigh. She let the door open. And walked out of the room. She threw herself on the bed, arm still bleeding. She closed her eyes. She went to sleep and tried to forget.

* * *

She was still pissed that Luke had taken the knife. She could've seen her parents and now she had no way to. A stick couldn't kill her. At least she didn't think it could. It didn't have the same effect as the boxcutter. It didn't make her bleed as well, if it even made her bleed at all.

She sat in the room pouting before remember the man that had lay on the bed in the bedroom. How he had, "overdosed". Maybe she could do the same.

Opening the door to the bedroom that had been off-limits to her up until now, she looks around for more sleeping pills. She checked the draws the closet, under the bed. Finally, she came to the bathroom, opening the medicine cabinet she was found a bottle in the, a little over half full, they weren't the same pill as before, but maybe they would still work.

She couldn't open the damn bottle. Why couldn't she open it. She had tried and tried, but nothing happened. With a pout, she shoved the pills in her pocket and left out of the room.

She'd just have to cut it open. If only she could find the box cutter. Luke had hidden that thing pretty good. It seemed to have disappeared. She'd have to find something else.

"Aha...!" She cried, spotting his machete. He must have laid it down.

Grabbing the pill bottle from her pocket, she attempted to cut it. It wasn't working.

Hearing someone coming she placed the machete down and darted from the room. She snuck back into her fort and stayed there. It'd be more private; no one would catch her with the bottle.

* * *

She didn't know how long she struggled with the pill bottle, but it felt like hours. The stupid thing just wouldn't budge.

Why wouldn't it open?! "Come on!" She growled.

A knock at the door made her jump and for a moment she was frozen. "Clem, you alright in there?" Bonnie's voice came through the door.

"Y-Yeah." With a sigh, she pocketed the pills once more before opening the door.

"You were in there a while. You sure you're good?" Bonnie placed a hand on the child's forehead.

Clementine let out a sigh. "I'm fine."

"You don't got anything, do ya?" Bonnie asked.

Clementine sent her a look, "What do you mean?"

"...Uh...Anything…" Bonnie trailed off.

"Like what?" Clementine demanded.

"Anything sharp." The woman replied.

Clementine groaned and tried to walk away, "No. I don't."

"You sure?" Bonnie quickly stopped the child.

"Uh-huh." This girl grumbled.

"Mind if I check?" Bonnie asked.

"Check what?" Clementine demanded.

The woman hesitated, "Your pockets…"

"Yes. I do mind." Clementine said.

"Clem." Bonnie sighed.

"No..." She said, walking past her. "I don't have anything I promise." She'd just have to open it tomorrow.

* * *

"You've been spending all day in the bathroom. You gonna move in there." Mike joked.

"Yeah. What's all that about Clem?" Kenny spoke to her, for the first time in days. "Ya sick?"

"No." Clementine replied.

"You got diarrhea?" Kenny smirked.

"What?" Clementine raised a brow.

"Diarrhea...You know." Kenny said.

"Actually, I don't." Clementine stated, looking confused.

"Oh...Ummm," Kenny looked to the girl, "Can't stop going number two?"

"NO!" Clementine shook her head and wondered if Kenny had an... obsession with the "number two". "I was just...busy. Okay?"

"Okay." Kenny shrugged.

Clementine was a bit outraged and embarrassed. He hadn't talked to her for days and that's the first thing he says to her, and in front of everyone.

"You didn't cut yourself, did you?" Mike asked the girl.

"No." Clementine replied.

"You sure?" Mike questioned.

Clementine rolled her eyes. "I think I would know if I cut myself."

"I think _we_ should know if you've cut yourself." Mike replied.

"I didn't cut myself!" Clementine snapped.

Clementine toyed with the bottle in her pocket for a bit.

Hearing a rattling Kenny look curious, "What do you got there?" He asked.

Clementine's eyes widened for a second. "...Nothing."

"Clem..." Kenny sighed.

"It's nothing, okay!" She turned away. "Just...mind your own business!"

"You are my business." Kenny shot back.

The girl ignored him and started to walk from the room.

"Clementine, get back here." He ordered.

She didn't.

"Clem!" Kenny called.

She didn't have to listen to him. She wouldn't.

With a huff she walked into the bedroom.

She tried to open the pill bottle again and after struggling for a few moments she let out a frustrated yell, "DAMN IT!" before throwing the bottle to the ground.

Angrily, she marched over to the bed and tossed herself on it. Burying her face into the pillow, she fought back the urge to cry.

* * *

"Clem," A soft voice caused her to stir. She hadn't realized she fallen asleep. "C'mon. Get up, Clem."

"Luke?" She sleepily blinked up at the man who offered her a small smile.

"Yeah. Hey, kiddo." Luke greeted the girl, "You hungry?"

Now that he mentioned it, she was starving, having not eaten anything since yesterday. She gave a small nod.

"Alright. I made you some breakfast." Luke said.

Clementine sat up rubbing her eyes.

"C'mon-"

Clementine's eyes widened as she noticed the pill bottle still on the ground. She didn't want Luke to see them, he'd take them away from her! Hopping to her feet, she made a dive for the pills, quickly kicking them under the bed.

Luke raised a brow, "You okay?"

"Yeah." She nodded putting on a bright smile. "So what's did you make for breakfast?" She asked.

Luke thought she was acting weird, but didn't say anything. He didn't want her blowing up on him. He made a mental note to check the room later on. "Nothing special." He replied. "We just have to make do with what we got."

Clementine didn't seem to care much though. She followed him out the room.

* * *

Clementine was getting frustrated. It wasn't like she could just ask for help… Or maybe she could. It was worth a try. Who better to ask then Jane?

"Hey, Jane..." Clementine said, with a small smile.

"What are you up to now?" Jane asked, already looking suspicious.

"N-Nothing." Clementine stammered, a bit surprised. She quickly shook her shock away, trying to act natural. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Isn't that a question?" Jane joked.

Clementine rolled her eyes. "Another one."

Jane waited patiently.

Clementine reached into her pocket and pulled out the pill bottle. "What's this?"

Jane took the bottle in her hand. "Where'd you get this?"

Clementine didn't respond.

"Better yet, why do you have it?" Jane demanded.

"I found them…" Clementine admit. "I just wanted to know what it was.

Jane shot her a look before looking to the pill bottle, reading the label. "Aspirin." She looked down at the girl. "Why? You need some?"

"What's it for?" Clementine asked.

"Pain reliever." Jane shrugged.

"Oh...I do have a headache." Clementine claimed.

"Really?" Jane questioned, raising a brow. She clearly didn't believe it.

"Yeah. My head is killing me." Clementine said, trying to keep a poker face.

Jane reached out, touching a hand to the girl's forehead. "You're not warm." She informed the child. "Think you're getting sick?"

"I don't know...Maybe." She shrugged. "How do you open it?"

Jane placed a hand on her hip and raised a brow, "Why?"

"Cause...It might help with my headache." Clementine said.

Jane wondered if she should give the girl the pills. Clementine was mature. And she hadn't been hurting herself since Luke confronted her. She could trust her not to do anything stupid right? Clem could take care of herself.

"Like this." She showed her, before closing it back.

Clementine looked on in amazement, "How did you do that?"

Jane gave an amused smile. "You have to push down and turn at the same time." Jane replied. "It's childproof."

"Oh." She didn't know that. No wonder she couldn't get it open. Stupid grownups, made it that way.

"Yeah." Jane replied with a smirk.

"Thanks." Clementine said.

"Don't mention it." Jane replied, handing the bottle back to the girl. "I think you'd only need one, but you should probably ask Bonnie."

"Don't worry. I'll figure it out." Clementine replied, walking off.

Jane just hoped she didn't plan on doing something stupid.

* * *

Clementine was quiet. More so than usual, and it bother Luke. He didn't like how withdrawn the child had become.

"Clem, you alright?" Luke asked, concern clear in his voice.

"Yes." The girl said, voice sounding empty.

"You sure?" Luke asked, he knelt in front of her. "You not hurting yourself anymore...Are you?"

"You took the knife away. How could I?" Clementine asked calmly.

Luke sighed, "Clem…"

"No... I told you I wouldn't." Clementine asked. "Can't you believe me?"

"Yeah...I… I believe you." Luke mumbled, though his face told his true feelings.

He doesn't believe you.

"I just wanted to know if you were alright."

He has to check on you because he doesn't trust you. He could be doing something else, if you weren't around. You're just a burden.

"I'm fine." Clementine responded.

Burden.

"Alright. Let me know if you need anything." Luke smiled, before walking away, leaving Clementine to sit in the corner of the room.

She tried not to make eye contact with anyone, but she could feel their eyes on her.

 ** _He hates you. He doesn't want you here. He just wishes you would leave. They all hate you._**

Clementine tried her best to block the voice out. She shook her head furiously as it taunted her.

 _ **Why not just kill yourself? You're just a worthless little girl. Nobody cares about you. Nobody will ever care about you.**_

Clementine bit her lip, hard enough to draw blood. The pain wasn't enough, but it was enough to keep her from crying.

* * *

Holding little AJ helped her to feel calm. She didn't know why. Maybe it was the fact the she knew there was a small amount of innocence left in the world.

"You should tell someone when you have the baby next time. Don't want anything bad to happen to him." Kenny took a seat beside the girl.

Clementine stayed quiet.

"You got nothing to say?" Kenny asked.

"I can take care of him." Clementine finally said, in a quiet voice.

"I'm just saying. I don't want you taking him outside and getting him hurt or something." Kenny replied.

Clementine was furious and embarrassed, she handed him the baby before saying, "I'm sorry... I know you want me to bite my tongue while you treat me like dirt, but I can't. I can't take it anymore. I hate this..."

Kenny was surprised to hear her say that. He was silent for a while before suddenly asking, "You still cutting yourself like a psycho?"

"Please don't." She mumbled, closing her eyes.

"Don't what?" Kenny asked, "I'm just asking you. Don't know why you'd do that in the first place."

"Stop." Clementine said.

"I'm not doing anything. You did it to yourself, kid." Kenny shrugged.

"If you keep treating me this way, I'll just...leave." Clementine said.

"Really?" Kenny said. "And where would you go?"

"Someplace else. I can take care of myself." Clementine replied.

"You know what Clem..." Kenny started, "You're a selfish, cocky, bratty little girl."

Clementine stayed silent, not wanting to respond.

"After all I've done, this is how you repay me." Kenny shook his head. "Lee would be disappointed."

"I hate you!" Clementine screamed, eyes filled with tears.

Silence fell over the place. Little AJ suddenly broke it by crying.

Kenny gawked at the girl, "How dare you?"

"Leave me alone!" The child felt an ache in her chest as she rose from the couch and walked away.

Her heart throbbed in pain, tears filling her bright eyes.

She didn't hate him...She didn't mean to say that. She was sure he hated her now. Why was she such a screw up?!

* * *

Luke and Jane were in hallway as Clementine ran past them.

Luke immediately sighed, knowing Kenny must have said something to her. It was not like her to rush pass without a word or some acknowledgement.

Luke went after the girl, pausing at the bathroom door. Quietly, he listened and could hear sobs coming from outside. He gave a knock on the door. "Clem, are you alright.

Jane soon joined Luke at the bathroom door.

"I'm fine." Clementine said.

"Open the door, please." Luke knocked again.

"Just go away." Clementine said.

"Don't do anything stupid, Clem." Jane called.

Clementine didn't respond.

The two stood outside the door for another moment, before Luke turned away.

Jane looked to him a bit confused.

"I'm going to talk to Kenny." He said.

He made his way into the living room, where Kenny sat. The man was holding baby AJ and looking like he hadn't just made a child cry.

"What did you do to her?" Luke demanded.

Kenny sent the other man an irritated look. "What?"

"Clementine, she's crying in the bathroom." Luke said.

"She seemed to do that a lot lately." Kenny shrugged.

Luke narrowed his eyes, "What the fuck did you say to her?"

"Nothing that's not true." Kenny said. "…She still cutting?"

"Yes, Kenny. Yes, she is!" Luke snapped.

"Thought she was stopping." Kenny replied.

"It's not something you just stop like that. And all this back and forth with you… It's making it worse." Jane said.

"So she's cutting because of me?" Kenny shook his head. "Good lord… I don't know how to handle this."

"What?"' Luke asked.

"I can't sit here… and wait for her to kill herself." Kenny said. "I won't."

"So what?" Jane asked. "What are you going to do?"

"I don't know…" Kenny said.

"This is why we need to go." Jane mumbled.

"Go where?" Kenny demanded.

"Anywhere but here," Jane said. "Somewhere Clem won't have to deal with this craziness."

"You're not taking Clem anywhere." Kenny said.

"Who's stopping us?" Jane questioned.

"I am!" Kenny said.

"Why? You don't give a damn about her!" Luke snapped.

"Of course I do." Kenny said. "You people could care less."

"Oh, really Kenny? Who just made her run to the bathroom crying?" Luke growled at him.

Kenny didn't respond.

"Clementine, she cares about you… I don't understand how you can treat her like that." Luke continued.

"That kid's wants to kill herself…" Kenny said, "Obviously, she doesn't care too much if she's that selfish.

"That's what we're trying to prevent, and your trying to ignore it." Luke said.

"Who are you to tell me anything?" Kenny grumbled.

"Someone who actually cares for Clementine. Someone who's actually concerned." Luke said.

"If you'd just opened your eyes, you understand that people actually care about that kid. You're trying to hide in those tough words of yours…" Jane added.

"Hiding from what." Kenny asked.

"From everything. All your failures, your loneliness." Jane replied.

"You don't know a thing about me, Jane." Kenny snapped.

"I know enough." Jane said.

"Whatever, we don't need to talk about anything…" Kenny grumbled. "Clementine's not going anywhere."

"She can't stay here." Jane snapped. "The kid's already a mess."

"It's not my fault she's going crazy!" Kenny said.

* * *

Clementine stood in front of the bathroom sink, trying to regain control over her emotions. She turned on the water and let it run. Cupping her hand, she filled them with water and splash some onto her face. She looked up, breathing heavy. She stared deep into the mirror.

She soon opened the bathroom door and walked out, trying to put on a brave face. She could hear Luke, Jane, and Kenny arguing.

"It's not my fault she's going crazy!" She heard Kenny say.

Clementine froze. Maybe he was right… Maybe she was going crazy. Honestly, she couldn't tell anymore.

With a sigh, she walked towards the bedroom and tried to will herself to sleep.

* * *

Clementine awoke before dawn. She sat outside for hours, lost in her thoughts until the sun finally rose. Once she reentered the house everyone seemed to be waking up.

Clementine greeted everyone casually, pretending as if nothing had happened, like the pass few days had been normal.

Luke was worried. The child was acting strange. How could she go from depressed to suddenly cheery? It didn't make since to him.

Still, Luke tried his best to hold his tongue, making sure to keep an eye on the girl. "Hey, kiddo. You hungry?"

"Starving." Clementine said with a smile.

That smile made Luke uneasy, and he couldn't figure out why.

* * *

This was it. She was done. Now she could see her parents. She could see Lee. She could see everyone else. And best of all, Kenny and the others wouldn't have to deal with her.

No turning back now. Raising up the pill bottle, she held it near her mouth when a knocking and a familiar voice reached her ears.

"Clem?" It was Luke. She didn't answer. "Clementine?" He called once more.

She refused to say anything. Luke wasn't going to stop her. Not this time. She had made up her mind and she was not changing it.

* * *

"Clem?" Luke called, he hadn't heard from the girl in a while and she'd been in the bathroom for so long. He didn't trust her being alone, not since that knife incident.

"Clementine?" He called again. No one answered.

He knocked harder, "Clem, are you in there?" Still he received no response. He turned the knob, the door was locked, no surprise, he was positive Clementine was in there. He didn't want to invade Clementine's privacy, but he was starting to get worried.

"Clementine, open this door." He demanded hoping that she would listen. He pushed against it, trying to get it open. Why wasn't she saying anything? What was she doing in there? "CLEMENTINE, I'm not playing with you, kid! Open this door right now!"

"Luke? Everything okay?" Mike ask.

"No... No. We gotta break the door down." Luke ordered in a frantic voice.

"What for?" Mike asked in confusion. "What's going on?"

"I don't know...Just...Just help me." Luke ordered.

"Alright." Mike nodded.

The two started trying to break the door down, but it wasn't budging. Clementine must have blocked the door with some.

"What's the problem?" Kenny called, approaching the two upon hearing all the noise.

"Clementine..." Mike mumbled.

Kenny raised a brow, "Clementine?"

"Yes?" Luke nodded.

"What'd she do now?" Kenny scoffed.

"She ain't coming out the bathroom." Luke said.

"Can't ya wait your turn?" Kenny asked.

"No, it's not that." Luke huffed, still pushing against the door.

"Then what?" Kenny asked.

"She's trying to kill herself!" Luke yelled.

Kenny's face filled with horror. "The fuck are you-"

"She tried it the other day and she's trying it again!" Luke said.

"Fuck...FUCK!" Kenny joined them in trying to get the door open. "CLEM! CLEMENTINE, OPEN THIS DOOR!"

Finally, they managed to bust the door in. They watched wide eyed as the girl took a stumble away from the sink, before collapsing to the ground.


	18. Chapter 18

The three men immediately panicked. Kenny pulled the young girl into his arms.

"What do we do?" Mike asked.

"Is she breathing?" Luke asked.

Kenny checked before answering, "Yeah."

Bonnie ran into the room, with baby AJ in her arms. The infant was crying. "What happened?" Bonnie asked, noticing Clementine's unconscious form.

"She took a bunch of pills…" Kenny said. "Fuck… What are we going to do?"

"You gotta make her throw up!" Bonnie cried.

"How are we going to do that?" Kenny demanded.

"Just…. Mike, take the baby." Bonnie handed Mike the infant.

Mike took Aj into his arms. "Sure."

"K-Kenny." Clementine's little voice suddenly fluttered to his ear, nothing over a whisper and it pained his heart.

"I'm here, darlin'. You're- You're gonna be alright, hon." Kenny said.

"I uh...I need to get in her mouth..." Bonnie stated, walking over to Kenny and Clementine.

"What?" Kenny tightened his grip protectively at the redhead's odd request.

"Kenny-" Bonnie called impatiently.

"Why do you need to do that for?" Luke asked.

"I have to make her throw up." Bonnie said.

Kenny looked down at the barely conscious girl, close to death, in his arms. She felt so cold, he was sure she was dying. It hadn't occurred to him to induce vomiting.

"A-Alright." He nodded, shifting the young girl, who let out a pained moan. "Hurry up." He said sternly.

Bonnie nodded and went to work, gently opening the child's mouth.

Clementine was too tired to fight. She felt like she was floating on a cloud. She felt...free. Was this the feeling Kenny was talking about? She didn't want it to disappear. She just wanted this feeling to stay forever.

"Mm!" She whimpered, coughing a bit. What were they doing to her? She wanted to open her eyes, but they were as heavy as lead. She was becoming frustrated and tears fell from her eyes as she whimpered. She tried to turn her head away, but they wouldn't allow it. She was held in place by strong arms.

She could hear talking but she didn't know who was talking.

"Stop..." She mumbled as they pulled away. She didn't like being hurled around like a rag doll.

"I know ya don't like it, hon, but it's gotta be done." Kenny said.

"She okay?" Mike asked.

"W-What are you doing to her?" Jane asked, entering the room as well.

"I'm trying to trigger her gag reflex, without hurting her." Bonnie explained.

Jane furrowed a brow, not knowing what had happened. "Why are you-"

"She has to vomit." Kenny simply said.

"Oh." Jane mumbled. "She did something stupid, didn't she?"  
"Took a bunch of pills." Luke replied, voice sounding panicked.

"Fuck…" Jane said.

Clementine groaned as she felt a throbbing in her head.

"It's alright, Clem." Kenny said.

Bonnie spoke in a firm voice, "Okay, Kenny, lean her over your lap."

Kenny quickly did as the woman said. "Like this?"

"Yeah." Bonnie said. "Luke get that bucket!"

Clementine whined at Kenny's movement, and with her eyes clenched shut she couldn't actually tell what was going on and voices were too muffled to know who was talking, hell, she didn't even know where she was anymore. But she could still feel.

Kenny was sure Clem's current position was uncomfortable, but if this would save her life he didn't give a damn how the kid felt.

Soon enough, Bonnie had triggered Clementine's gag reflect and the child ended up vomiting.

"Good girl. Just let it out." Bonnie mumbled as the girl retched into the bucket.

"Hey, Luke." Kenny called.

"Y-Yeah?" Luke asked, looking to the man.

"Get her some water, will ya?" Kenny said.

"Yeah. Yeah." He rushed from the room going to grab the child a drink. He was glad he had found Clementine when he did, now she still had a chance. He only wished it could've prevented this from happening.

After Clementine finally stopped throwing up, Kenny sat her upright in his lap.

The girl's eyes were still clenched shut, her head pounding fiercely.

"You're alright now, Clem?" Kenny asked.

There was no response from the young girl.

Alvie was crying, bothered by all the noise and Kenny shot Mike a glare. "Take him into the other room." He ordered.

Mike didn't argue, he quickly left the room just as Luke returned.

"Here. Here's the water." Luke said, offering the man a half filled cup.

"Thanks." Kenny grumbled, still holding Clementine in his lap. "Hey, Clem. Drink some water."

The child still gave no response.

"C'mon, sweetie." Kenny spoke gently. "Drink something…"

"K-Kenny?" Clementine suddenly mumbled.

"Yes, hon?" Kenny replied.

"I don't feel good." She sniffed, finally opening her teary eyes.

"I know sweetie." Kenny hushed, rubbing the girl's back. "Want some water."

"Uh-huh." Clementine nodded.

Kenny helped her drink the water. When she gave him a weird look, he raised a brow, looking back at her tired little gaze. "What?"

"I... uh...I need to s-spit." Clementine said.

"Go ahead." Kenny urged to the bucket.

Clementine spat into the bucket before raising a hand, "No more water."

"Alright." Kenny said.

"Can I sleep now?" The little girl asked.

Kenny didn't know what to say. He was scared that if she went to sleep, she wouldn't wake up again. "Clem..."

"Sure you can, Clem." Bonnie said.

Kenny shoot her a look which Bonnie ignored. The woman readied to take the little girl. Kenny was about to protest, but to his surprise Clementine turned away from the woman herself.

"No..." The girl mumbled, tiny hands grasping the man's shirt. "Wanna stay with Kenny." She said, tiredly burying her face into his shoulder.

With a smile, Kenny responded, "I got ya, Clem."

Standing with the girl in his arms, he walked from the bathroom. Clementine was securely in his arms. He didn't notice the girl had fallen asleep until Mike pointed it out upon him entering the living room.

Kenny felt nervousness run through his body. He fought the urge to shake the girl awake. Bonnie had told Clementine she could sleep, so everything would probably be fine. At least he hoped so.

* * *

Clementine slept for the remainder of the day. By the time the next morning came and she was still asleep Kenny became concerned. The later it got, the more worried he became.

"Clem…. Clem, darlin', wake up." No response.

"Clem!" He called a little louder. Nothing.

Eyes widened, he gave the child a shake, stomach dropping when the little girl didn't even stir the slightest bit.

"C-Clem!" He nearly choked. "Clementine, wake up. Wake up now, darlin'." He shook her again. "This isn't funny. C'mon hon. Please wake up."

"Everything okay?" Bonnie asked, entering the room and glancing at the girl who was laid on the bed.

"She's not waking up." Kenny said desperately.

"Relax, Kenny." Bonnie said.

"What?" He asked in disbelief. "Did you not hear me?" He snapped. "She ain't waking up!"

"It's only been a day." Bonnie replied.

"Exactly! A whole day!" Kenny growled.

"Her body need some rest. Sometime to recover." Bonnie said calmly.

Kenny sighed, feeling a bit stupid. "Okay."

"Let's leave her be for now." Bonnie said.

Kenny looked to the child. He couldn't bring himself to leave herself.

Bonnie let out a sigh, walking from the room.

* * *

"It's been too fuckin' long. How long is she supposed to sleep?" Kenny demanded.

"I... I figured she'd be awake by now." Bonnie said.

"Yeah, going on three days, tomorrow. Kid's in a drug induced coma." Luke said.

"I guess she'll wake up on her own time." Bonnie mumbled.

"In the meantime, we should decide what we're doing." Jane said.

"What?" Luke asked.

"We're not going to stay here forever." Jane said. "Where are we heading next."

"We're going to Wellington, soon as Clementine wakes up." Kenny said.

"What if she doesn't wake up?" Jane asked.

Luke released a heavy sigh, "Jane."

"No. Have any of you ever thought about that? What if she doesn't wake up?" Jane questioned.

"If... If she doesn't wake up... There's nothing we can do about it." Mike said.

"How can you say that?" Kenny asked angrily, shooting the man a glare.

"Kenny, I'm sorry." Mike said, looking away. "I'm just being honest here.

"Can't you just do something to wake her up?" Kenny asked Bonnie.

"I can't Kenny. I tried there's nothing else I can do." Bonnie replied.

"But…" Kenny trailed off, not knowing what to say.

"All we can do is hope that we got it out of her system in time." Bonnie said.

* * *

Kenny remained glued to the girl's bedside the entire day. It had been three days and she still hadn't woken yet. He ran his hand through her curly mat of hair as his other hand gripped her small one hoping she'd squeeze his, she didn't.

His heart broke for that little girl. He felt like a piece of shit for how he'd been treating her, and he couldn't shake the nagging voice in the back of his head that kept telling him it was all his fault. Saying that he had pushed her over the edge.

Guilt was eating him. He wanted to justify his behavior towards the child, but he knew he couldn't.

He had been such an asshole to her... He promised as soon as she woke up, he would apologize.

* * *

It was day four and didn't think he could last another day. He was becoming restless. He couldn't bring himself to leave the girl's side for anything other than to use the bathroom. He tried to tell himself that she was going to wake up, but he was starting to find that hard to believe. Bonnie had seemed to know a thing about overdosing and he thought she had definitely save the child's life, but even she was starting to lose hope in Clem making it.

"Hey," Bonnie knocked at the door.

Kenny jumped, startled. He forced himself to sit upright.

"Uh, Hey?" He opened his eyes, which he hadn't realized had been closed, and was met with bright sunshine.

"You should eat something." Bonnie said. "You haven't been taking care of yourself…"

Kenny shook his head, saying, "Don't worry about me. How's Clementine?"

"I wanted to check her injuries, change her bandages; do you want to be in the room for this?" Bonnie asked.

"Why wouldn't I?" Kenny asked, her a bit defensive.

Bonnie furrowed her brow. "She has a lot of... marks."  
"From?" Kenny asked.  
"Her cutting." Bonnie replied.

Kenny fell silent. He had forgotten about that.

She checked the child's pulse before going to unwrap the bandage on her arm.

Kenny did say anything else, watching as Bonnie took care of Clem's cuts. He felt sick knowing she had done that to herself.

Clementine let out a small sound, causing Kenny to jump up.

"She's waking up!" Kenny exclaimed.

"No… It's a natural reaction. Like how she's holding your hand." Bonnie tried to explain.

Kenny dropped back into his seat, feeling pain fill his heart. He watched as Bonnie finished changing the girl's bandages before once again leaving them alone.

"Wake up sweetie..." He muttered, hoping to see some movement.

There was none. She was lifeless. Just like when he pulled her out that lake. This is exactly what he was trying to prevent. He was trying to keep the child safe and in the end this had happened.


	19. Chapter 19

"Clem," He sighed. "Why the hell did you do this to me? First Kat. Now...Now you." He shook his head sadly.

The was no response from the young child.

Kenny sighed, rubbing a hand over the girl's cheek.

"Hey, Kenny." Luke stood in the doorway, watching the scene with a sad look. "Bonnie wants to know if you wanted to feed AJ."

"Y-Yeah." He stood. "I'll be right back darlin'." He paused for a moment, stroking a hand over her little cheek with a faint smile at how innocent she looked. As he pulled away he frowned, remembering the situation. He let out another sigh as he exited the room.

"Hey, Clem. It's Luke." Luke spoke gently, taking a seat the chair Kenny had left empty. "We're all worried about you." He gently took the girl's hand. "So... Just wake up. Alright, Kiddo? That's all I'm asking." He sighed. "I don't understand why you would do this to yourself. You don't know how many people you'd hurt if you die. We all love you, Clem."

Clementine didn't react.

Luke felt terrible looking down at her little face. Everything had been different since Clementine fell into a coma. Everyone was scared for her.

"I... I'm going to get something to eat." He said, forcing himself to release her hand. Luke had lost almost everyone. He wouldn't lose Clementine too. He hadn't even known the kid for a year, but he felt so close to her. She was too important to lose. He forced himself to keep going for so long, but if he lost her, he didn't think he'd be able to.

* * *

The others looked to the doorway as Luke entered the living area.

Kenny glanced up from the baby he was hold, face turning into a scowl. "Where's Clem?"

"In the room." Luke sighed.

"By herself?" Kenny asked. "What the hell-"

"I'm going to check on her anyway." Bonnie cut off his outburst, walking pass them and into the room Clementine was lying in.

* * *

Bonnie didn't know what to do. She had seen it before, seen people after they overdosed. But she'd never seen a child, so young, overdose and on purpose. It was crazy. Yet here lay Clementine in a drug induced coma.

She was worried, not just about Clementine, but also Kenny and Luke. They were fighting a lot more and constantly blaming each other for her condition. And it was only getting worse.

Bonnie wordlessly took care of the little girl's injuries.

She couldn't believe they had allowed Clementine to hurt herself to such an extent. They hadn't even helped the poor girl… Bonnie could stop the guilt that was eating at her.

She didn't know how she would live with herself if Clementine didn't wake up…

* * *

By day five the group didn't know what to do.

Kenny was beyond terrified at the thought of losing another child.

He would sit at the child's side for hours, only leaving for one thing…

"Kenny…" Mike called from the doorway. "Bonnie wants to know if you want to feed the baby…"

"Yeah…" Kenny said.

Mike nodded and walked off.

"Back in a minute, darlin'." Kenny pushed himself up, walking away. Clementine was still unconscious and she hadn't woken up, not even for a second.

Upon entering the room, he could hear the others talking.

"It's been five days." Jane said. "We can't just stay put. We're going to run out of supplies."

"Yeah, but what are we going to do about Clem?" Bonnie asked.

Mike frowned before saying, "It's been nearly a week. I honestly don't think the kid's gonna wake up."

"Fuck you, Mike!" Kenny snapped.

"What? I'm being honest." Mike defended himself. "She's been out for five fucking days, man."

"She'll wake up!" Kenny said.

"And if she doesn't. We're going to have to go." Jane said. "And we might have to..."

Kenny shot her a glare. "Don't fuckin' say it."

"Then what do you suggest?" Jane demanded.

"I don't know...But we ain't leaving her." Kenny said. "I'll carry her."

"You can't just carry her for the rest of her life." Jane said.

"Jane's right. We're not doctors. She's not in a hospital and she's back in the same state she was in when we pulled her out of the lake a few weeks ago." Mike said.

"She's fine." Kenny snapped. "If we just get her to Wellington already-"

"She's in a damn coma. She's not fine." Mike interrupted.

"Mike...Mike has a point. I'd hate to do this, but maybe it's time to let her go..." Bonnie sighed.

"Bonnie." Luke shook his head at the woman.

Bonnie looked to Luke, "I'm sorry, but we're all going to die if-"

"Can you guys stop talking like she's a puppy you're gonna put down." Luke said, cutting Bonnie off.

"You just shut up." Kenny growled at Luke, regardless of the fact that he was defending Clementine. "This is your fault!"

"My fault?" Luke asked.

"Yes!" Kenny snapped. "If you would've got there sooner-"

"How was I supposed to know she was going to do this?" Luke demanded.

"That don't matter. You should've got there faster, but because you were so fucking slow, Clementine is in a coma!" Kenny said.

Luke shot the other man a glare. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Do I look like I'm kidding around?" Kenny grumbled.

"Seriously, Kenny?" Luke huffed, "All this happened because of you."

Kenny narrowed his eyes. "Don't you-"

"No. It happened because of YOU. Because of what YOU said to her." Luke said.

"Fucking liar." Kenny spat.

"I ain't lying. She was fine before then. This is your fault!" Luke said.

"Guys, it isn't no one's fault." Mike cut in.

"But it is. It's a lot of people's faults." Luke stated. "Between Kenny, and those pedophiles..."

Everyone looked shocked at those words.

"What?" Kenny asked.

"The day she left, she had a run in with these guys in a car. They tried to rape her." Luke explained.

"W-Why didn't she tell me?" Kenny asked.

"Because she's scared of you!" Luke said. "She's eleven. She can't handle all the crap you people put her through."

"Are you any better?" Jane asked.

"No... No, I'll admit that I have put pressure on the kid, but I don't belittle her or make her feel inadequate." Luke said.

"I don't do that." Kenny claimed.

"You do. You did." Luke said. "She was cutting herself, because of things you said to her. Because of things everyone has said to her."

Kenny shook his head. "That wasn't because of me. And she said she stopped…"

"No. She didn't stop. She was cutting that whole time. This was a constant thing." Bonnie told him.

Kenny was shocked to hear that.

"Everyone knew." Luke said. "Everyone knew it, except for you."

"And why didn't ya'll tell me?" Kenny asked

"She didn't want you to know…" Bonnie sighed.

"You don't think I have the right to know?" Kenny asked.

Bonnie was quiet for a moment before saying in a shaky voice, "She thinks you hate her."

"What?" Kenny felt his heart clench at that.

"Yeah..." Bonnie said. She felt so bad for poor Clementine.

"And we all know whose fault it is." Luke muttered.

"Maybe she was just tired of living." Jane spoke up.

Bonnie frowned. "Jane-"

Jane continued, "So many people just give up. Maybe Clementine couldn't take it anymore."

"Shut up." Kenny ordered.

Jane didn't listen, "She probably just wanted to end it all."

The room became silent. They blamed each other so much, they never thought that Clementine just didn't want to live anymore.


	20. Chapter 20

_**Thanks so much for all the reviews and support everyone! This is the final chapter for this fic. But who knows, maybe there will be a sequel.**_

* * *

Had Luke been right? Had he been the reason that Clementine decided to try to take her own life? He was so blind not to notice what the girl was going through. She needed him, and he wasn't there for her.

"Oh, Clem...I'm so sorry, darlin'. I... I never meant for this to happen." Kenny spoke out loud to the young girl. She didn't respond, but he didn't expect her to. He just hoped she would wake up soon.

"I'm so fucking sorry. Just wake up. Please, just open your eyes." Kenny pleaded.

She didn't.

Kenny let out a sigh, rubbing a hand over his face. He needed some sleep. Looking at Clementine's little face he decided just a few minutes wouldn't hurt. And before he knew it, he had dozed off.

* * *

Clementine let out a groan as she tried to move, but her body ached. Eyes fluttering open, she was surprised to see Kenny sitting in a chair, resting his head against the bed she was currently resting in.

"Kenny?" She gasped out weakly.

It wasn't loud enough to wake the man.

"Kenny...!" She called a bit louder, her throat felt funny and it hurt to talk. Was she sick? Reaching up a weak hand, she gave her friend a shake.

Kenny stirred a bit before looking over to her. "Clem?" Kenny's eyes widened. "Clementine!" He couldn't believe she was awake. Was he dreaming?

He quickly pulled her into a hug. She felt real. This couldn't have been a dream, could it. He sure hoped it was real.

Clementine coughed a little as the man hugged her. The child returned the hug, even though her body was aching.

Kenny quickly broke the hug and reached over to the table, grabbing a water bottle. He held it to her lips and helped the girl drink some.

"Thanks." She mumbled.

"Of course, darlin'." Kenny kissed the top of her head.

Clementine reached up weakly with her free hand, touched the skin under the man's eyes. "You're tired?" She whispered.

"Hmm?"

"Your eyes have bags." The girl said.

"Don't worry about me, hon. I'm fine." Kenny assured.

"If you say so, Kenny." Clementine replied.

"I'm more worried about you." Kenny said. "How are you, Clem?"

The child shrugged. "Okay...I think."

"That's good." He nodded, stroking his fingertips over her cheek. "I love you, darlin'."

She wasn't sure why he was saying this, but responded nonetheless, "I... I love you too, Kenny."

Kenny smiled. "I know you do. How could you NOT love me?"

Clementine rolled her eyes, but smiled, causing him to chuckle.

They sat silently for a moment before the child once again spoke.

"Lay with me?" Clementine shyly asked.

Kenny hesitated for a moment before complying. "...Okay."

He crawled into bed with the little girl.

Clementine shifted a little before letting out a groan.

"You okay?" Kenny asked.

"...Yeah. My head just hurts." Clementine said. "What happened?"

"You don't remember?" Kenny asked in surprise.

Clementine shook her head. "No."

"You tried to kill yourself." Kenny said solemnly

Clementine's eyes widen, she seemed taken aback at the thought of her doing something like that. "R-Really?"

"Yeah." Kenny looked down, feeling guilt in the pit of his stomach. "Took a bottle of pills. We had to make you throw 'em up."

Clementine was silent for a moment as memories slowly flooded back. She had tried to do like that guy did and... overdose.

"I'm so sorry, Clem." Kenny said.

"Why are you sorry, it wasn't your fault." Clementine responded.

Kenny frowned. He knew it was his fault. "Clem-"

Clementine cut him off, "You didn't do anything wrong."

"Yes. Yes, I did, Clementine." Kenny said.

"What?"

"I was treating you like crap. Look, I didn't realize it before… but I know now… I'm really sorry, hon." Kenny said.

"I don't mind." Clementine simply said.

"You should mind! The things I said to you... It was wrong." Kenny said.

"It's okay. I deserve it." Clementine stated.

Kenny was surprised to hear he say that. "You don't deserve any of that, Clementine."

"You're right. I deserve worse than that." Clementine said.

"Stop it. Don't talk like that you hear me?" Kenny scolded. "I never wanna hear you say anything like that again, got it."

"But-"

Kenny didn't let her finish. "Do you understand?"

"Yes." Clementine sighed in defeat.

"Good girl." Kenny said.

"Ken-" Clementine couldn't even get his name pass her lips before she erupted into a coughing fit.

"You need some more water?" Kenny said, grabbing the water bottle and offering it to the girl again. "It'll help you stop coughing."

"Okay..." Clementine accepted the bottle, sipping at the water.

Once she finished she handed it back to Kenny who placed it on the table.

The two were silent for a while before Kenny sighed.

"I thought I'd lost you, darlin'." Kenny spoke to her. "I've already lost so much. I thought I was going to lose you too."

"You didn't lose me." Clementine said.

"But I almost did." Kenny said. "If you died, I think I'd die along with you."

"No you wouldn't." Clementine disagreed.

"I would." Kenny said.

"Why do you think that?" Clementine asked.

"Because you're that important to me, sweetie." Kenny said. "I couldn't bare losing you. You and Alvie are the only ones I have left."

Clementine couldn't help but feel bad. She had been so caught up in her own pain, she didn't think about how other people would feel. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright. As long as you're okay now." Kenny replied. "Just don't...do that ever again."

"I won't." Clementine said.

"Promise me." Kenny said. "If anything ever happened to you, darlin', it would break my heart. So I need you to promise."

"I pinky swear. Those are forever." Clementine said, raising her pinky to wrap around his.

Kenny chuckled at her innocence. He locked his pink with hers."No going back on your word."

"Never." Clementine said.

"Good." Kenny smiled.

Clementine nuzzled into Kenny's warmth, savoring his closeness, her head throbbed a little, but she tried to ignore it as she felt his protective arms wrap around her small body, pulling her close.

"Kenny..." She called quietly.

"Yes, hon?" Kenny said.

Clementine seemed hesitant for a moment.

"What is it, sweetie?" Kenny urged the child on.

"You wanted to die too, didn't you?" Clementine asked.

Kenny hadn't been expecting that, "Huh?"

"A-After Sarita..." Clementine muttered.

"Way before then, kid." He wasn't going to lie to her. "Yeah."

"I don't...I..." A little sob fell from her throat. "I don't want you to die."

"Clem...darlin', don't cry." Kenny hushed, pulling the child close. "It's alright."

"I don't want you to leave me." Clementine whimpered.

"I'll never leave you. You know I would never do that." Kenny said.

"Promise?" Clementine asked, although she knew it wasn't a promise he could make. At least it would make her feel better.

"I promise, Clem." Kenny replied.

"Thank you." Clementine said.

Kenny started to rub the child's hair, "…Never scare me like that again, I can't handle losing you sweetie."

"I never want to lose you either." Clementine replied causing him to smile.

"Go back to sleep, hon." Kenny told her.

"You t-too..." Clementine sniffled, wiping tears away, "Y-You...You look t-te-terrible.

Kenny smiled. "Thanks."

Clementine smiled and they both laid down.

* * *

An hour passed before Clementine woke up again. She gradually regained her senses. Opening her eyes, she quietly called out, "Kenny?"

"Hey, Clem...You awake, hon?" Kenny asked, realizing it was probably a stupid question, considering the child had just spoke.

Clementine gave a small giggle at his question, she was obviously awake. "Yeah." She coughed a little.

"How are you feeling? Are you okay?" Kenny asked.

"I'm okay." Clementine said.

"You don't look so good, darlin'." Kenny checked the child's temperature. "You're warm. I think ya got a fever."

"Is it bad?" Clementine asked.

"Nah… You're not too hot, we'll get you some medicine for it." Kenny said. "You sure you're okay?"

"Kenny, I'm fine." Clementine said. "...I'm just a little hungry." The girl's stomach growled causing her face to flush in embarrassment.

"A little?" Kenny asked with a smirk.

"Well, maybe a lot..." Clementine admit.

Kenny chuckled. "Lemme get you something to eat then, sweetheart."

"Thank you, Kenny." Clementine said.

A sudden knock on the door grabbed both of their attention and they looked to see Luke.

"Bonnie wanted me to-" Luke stopped mid-sentence surprised to see the kid was awake.

"Hey, Luke." Clementine said.

"Hey, Clem." Luke greeted back. "W-When did you wake up?" He was so glad she was okay, he had to keeping himself from crying tears of joy as he approached her bedside.

"About an hour ago." Kenny said.

"Seriously?" Luke asked. "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"She needed to rest. She still needs to rest." Kenny said. "She has a fever."

"I'm fine, Kenny. You worry too much." Clementine said.

Kenny rolled his eyes at that.

Luke smiled at the little girl. "It's good to see you awake, kiddo."

"I'll go get you some food now." Kenny said. "Luke can keep you company for a bit."

"Okay." Clementine nodded.

Kenny began to make his way out of the room, looking over his shoulder when he heard Clementine say, "Hey!"

Luke was holding Clementine's hat, placing it on his own head.

"Luke!" The little girl cried with a smile, reaching her hand up to grab her cap. "Give it back!"

Upon hearing her enthusiastic cry, Kenny smiled to himself. The road to recovery would be long, but his little girl was going to be okay.


End file.
